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CROSS    COUNTRY 
WITH    HORSE    AND    HOUND 


O 

o 


CROSS  COUNTRY 
WITH   HORSE  AND  HOUND 


BY 


FRANK    SHERMAN    PEER 

Author  of  **  Soiling,  Ensilage,  and  Stable  Construction  " 


WITH     ILLUSTRATIONS    BY 


J.  CRAWFORD   WOOD 


NEW   YORK 
CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 

1902 


Copyright,  1902,  by 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons 


Publiihed  October,  igo2 


The  DeVinne  Press 


TO 

THOMAS    HITCHCOCK,   JR.,   ESQ. 

EX-MASTER    OF    THE     MEADOWBROOK     HOUNDS 
MASTER    OF    THE    AIKEN     ( N.   C.)     HOUNDS 
A    VERY    CLEVER     HUNTSMAN 
A    FINISHED     RIDER 
A    RARE    HORSEMAN 
A    GENUINE     SPORTSMAN 
THIS    WORK    IS     RESPECTFULLY     DEDICATED     BY    THE    AUTHOR 


PREFACE 

"  Perhaps,  after  all,  it  's  a  gain  in  the  end 
To  be  tied  to  the  subject  you  love." 

RHYMES    IN    RED 

STRANGE  as  it  may  seem,  there  never  has  been  a  book 
published  in  America  on  the  subject  of  cross-country 
riding  to  hounds.  Let  this  be  the  author's  apology  —  if 
any  is  required  —  for  presenting  this  work. 

Having  moved  into  a  hunting  country  without  previous 
knowledge  of  the  sport,  the  author  undertook  to  follow 
the  hounds  after  witnessing  a  run  from  a  friend's  car- 
riage, and,  needless  to  say,  made  about  as  many  mistakes  as 
it  was  possible  for  a  "green  un"  to  accomplish.  It  was 
greatly  to  his  mortification  and  chagrin  to  discover  how 
much  of  a  sinner  he  had  been  against  the  unwritten  laws 
of  the  hunting-field  —  so  much  so  that  years  later  he  deter- 
mined, if  an  opportunity  should  present  itself,  to  place  in  the 
hands  of  similar  uninitiated  ones  something  in  the  nature 
of  a  guide.  Curiously  enough,  the  rules  are  misunderstood 
even  by  a  large  number  of  those  who  follow  the  hounds. 
Especially  is  this  true  of  the  men  who  simply  "  hunt  to 
ride."  Although  a  gallop  across  country  is  a  most  invig- 
orating pastime,  the  most  interesting  and  lasting  enjoy- 
ment, the  real  sport,  comes  from  a  more  thorough  knowledge 


viii  Preface 

of  the  hunt,  of  the  workings  of  the  hounds,  the  plots  laid 
by  the  artful  Reynard  to  fool  them,  and  the  counter-plots  of 
the  clever  huntsman.  The  men  who  follow  hunting  year 
in  and  year  out,  through  fair  weather  and  foul,  through 
youth,  manhood,  and  age,  are  invariably  the  men  who 
possess  this  knowledge,  and  who,  instead  of  simply  hunting 
to  ride,  are  classed  with  the  men  who  ride  to  hunt.  This 
work  is  therefore  intended  to  give  the  novice  an  insight 
into  the  game  from  the  point  of  view  both  of  hunting  and 
of  riding,  so  that  he  may  obtain  from  the  sport  a  full 
measure  of  the  delights  it  has  to  offer. 

The  author  makes  no  attempt  to  set  up  a  code  for 
officers  of  the  hunt.  He  states  the  conditions  and  moves 
of  the  game  from  a  member's  and  not  from  an  official's 
standpoint.  He  has  never  occupied  any  position  in  the 
hunt  except  that  of  a  modest  riding  member  who  dearly 
loved  the  sport,  especially  the  hunting  part  of  it.  His 
ambition  has  been  to  keep  in  sight  of  the  hounds,  and  he 
is  quite  contented  to  let  the  racing  men  and  jealous  riders 
share  all  the  honours  they  can  extract  from  the  satisfaction 
of  being  called  "first  flight  men."  A  more  important 
claim  is  that  he  has  had  considerable  experience  in  breed- 
ing, rearing,  and  schooling  hunters  that  have  been  for  the 
most  part  a  credit  to  the  system  adopted  in  their  training, 
and  has  been  fortunate  in  bringing  to  this  work  quite  ex- 
tensive observations  of  many  diffisrent  packs  of  hounds  in 
European  countries,  as  well  as  in  the  United  States  and  Can- 
ada. His  chief  aim  is  to  encourage  this  most  noble  sport 
for  sport's  sake,  to  contrast  the  genuine  sportsman  with  the 
artificial,  and  to  pay  to  that  noblest  of  animals,  the  horse. 


Preface  ix 

and  especially  the  "hunter,"  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  many 
a  glorious  hour  in  his  company. 

The  author  is  indebted  to  the  artist  Mr.  J.  Crawford 
Wood  for  the  very  lifelike  illustrations  accompanying 
these  pages.  Mr.  Wood  is  one  of  the  keenest  hunting 
men  in  the  famous  grass  countries  of  England.  He  hunts 
five  days  a  week  throughout  the  season,  with  such  noted 
packs  as  the  Pytchley,  Grafton,  and  North  Warwickshire 
hounds.  Thanks  are  due  also  to  Mr.  Phillpotts  Williams, 
master  and  huntsman  of  the  Melton  harriers,  near  Salis- 
bury, England,  for  kind  permission  to  select  from  his 
"Rhymes  in  Red"  and  his  "Poems  in  Pink"  the  verses 
which  precede  the  several  chapters  of  this  work.  They  are 
so  full  of  the  spirit  and  the  true  gospel  of  hunting  that 
they  must  be  heartily  welcomed.  No  author  up  to  the 
present  day  has  been  more  generally  quoted  on  all  questions 
concerning  the  science  and  art  of  fox-hunting.  No  less 
is  the  indebtedness  to  the  immortal  Somerville,  of  whose 
lines  the  author  has  made  liberal  use,  although  they  were 
written  in  1735  and  have  long  been  out  of  print.  The 
odour  of  the  woods  and  the  spirit  of  the  chase  live  in  them 
still,  with  the  vigour  of  youth,  the  colour  of  autumn,  and 
the  freshness  of  spring. 

In  a  work  of  this  nature  it  has  been  found  impossible  to 
avoid  considerable  repetition  of  thought.  Besides,  the  book 
has  been  a  long  time  in  pickle.  Chapters  or  portions  of 
chapters  have  been  added  at  long  intervals,  and  the  whole 
has  been  compiled  during  "  overtime "  from  other  business 
—  on  steam-cars,  or  at  uncomfortable  hotels,  or  on  steam- 
ships pitched  about  by  winter  seas.      If  it  is  well   received 


X  Preface 

it  will  be  in  spite  of  its  style.  The  reins,  the  gun,  and 
the  tiller  are  probably  better  suited  to  the  writer's  hands 
than  the  pen.  His  chief  hope  is  that  the  reader  may 
have  some  of  the  pleasure  in  reading  the  book  that  the 
author  had  in  writing  it.  He  is  well  aware  that  many  of 
his  views  are  not  altogether  orthodox,  but  he  has  at- 
tempted to  be  honest  with  himself  and  present  his  own 
ideas  and  views  regardless  of  some  well-grounded  no- 
tions current  among  hunting  men.  We  are  all  apt  to  get 
into  a  rut  in  our  ways  of  thinking.  It  may  be  prefer- 
able to  have  a  rut  of  our  own  rather  than  follow  a  blind 
ditch  simply  because  the  crowd  seems  to  be  going  that 
way.  The  writer  is  also  aware  that  he  now  rejects  many 
theories  that  a  few  years  ago  were  considered  true  gospel, 
which  leads  him  to  suspect  that  a  few  years  hence  he  may 
repudiate  some  things  that  he  now  asserts  with  much  assur- 
ance. He  will  consider  his  reward  very  ample  if  in  the 
hour  of  ultimate  success  the  novice  reader  has  a  kindly 
thought  for  "  Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound." 

The   Elms 

Cornell  Heights 

Ithaca,  N.  Y. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


I  True  Sport  and  Sportsmanship i 

The  word  sportsman  defined  —  English  and  American  sports- 
men compared  —  American  school  and  college  sports 

II  Hunting  Terms ii 

A  learner's  programme  —  Terms  ancient  and  modern 

III  The   Hunter:   His  Conformation 19 

Head  —  Neck  —  Shoulders  —  Back  —  Loin  quarters  —  Body  — 
Legs  —  Disposition 

IV  Breeding   Hunters 39 

The  best  breed  —  General  principles  in  breeding  —  Selection 
of  sire  and  dam  —  Summary  of  principles  —  Treatment  of  mare 
and  foal 

V  Schooling  Hunters 53 

The  best  age  to  begin  —  Mouthing  and  learning  to  drive  — 
Schooling  for  saddle  work  —  Learning  to  jump,  right  way  — 
Learning  to  jump,  wrong  way 

VI  Buying  a  Hunter 6g 

The  horse-dealer  and  the  jockey  —  Two  ways  of  buying  a  horse 
—  How  some  buyers  go  about  it  —  The  marriage  ceremony 

VII  Seat 85 

Riding  by  grip  and  balance  —  Bad  and  good  form  —  How  to 
sit  a  horse  properly  —  Riding  over  jumps  by  balance 

VIII  Hands 99 

Pullers :  how  they  are  made  —  Proper  position  of  hands  —  How 
to  hold  the  reins  —  Hands  when  jumping 
xi 


xii  Contents 

PAGE 

IX  Jumping  Fences,  Ditches,  and  Water    .     .     .     -115 

The   rider  —  His  management  of  his  horse  —  Speed  at  timber 
and  water 

X  Spurs 121 

Their  use  and  abuse — Relics  of  barbarism 

XI  Dress  ..■••... .129 

The  etiquette  of  the  hunting-field — The  over-dressed — The 
under-dressed — The  swell 

XII  Falls 135 

The  art  of  falling  —  Learning  to  fall  —  Barometer  of  fear  — 
Falls  not  the  horse's  fault 

XIII  Courage  vs.   Funk 145 

True  and  false  nerve  —  Cataleptic  riders  —  Preparation  —  A  case 
of  funk  that  reached  collapse 

XIV  The  Hound 155 

Standard  of  excellence  —  Drafting   for  faults  —  American  and 
English  hounds  compared 

XV  Hound  Breeding 165 

Origin  of  the  breed  —  Difficulties  in   the  way  —  The  skill  of 
English  breeders  —  Mating  and  birth 

XVI  The  Hound   Puppy  at  Walk 177 

An  important  event  —  Mischievous  propensities  —  Kennel  dis- 
cipline —  Cub-hunting 

XVII  The   Fox 189 

The  fox  compared  with  other  game  —  Hunting  the  wild  red 
deer  —  A  pathetic  end  —  Renard's  crafty  nature 

XVIII  The   Fox  and   his  Ways 197 

Breeding  season  —  First   lessons  in   craft  cunning  —  What  the 
earth-stopper  says — What  the  farmer  and  his  wife  say 

XIX  Scent 209 

Some  theories  compared  —  Fondness  of  hounds  for  the  trail  — 
Hound  music  and  a  novice 


Contents  xiii 


PAGE 


XX  Farmers  and   City   Men 219 

Obligations  of  hunting  men  to  farmers  —  Farmers'  compensation 
and  damages —  City  men  in  the  country  —  Snobs 

XXI  The   Lady   Rider 229 

Her  position   in   the  field  —  Her  horsemanship  —  Her  courage 
and  resolution  — A  famous  rider 

XXII  Mind-power  Horsemanship 239 

"An  indefinable  something"  —  Personal  magnetism  —  Consent 
to  be  governed  —  Cultivation  ot  mind-power  control 

xxiii  Driving  to  Hounds 251 

An  interesting  pastime  —  The  Doctor  and  the  little  mare  —  A 
remarkable  spill 

XXIV  Officers  and   Hunt  Assistants 261 

The  M.F.H.  —  The  huntsman — The  whippers-in  —  The  ken- 
nel huntsman  —  The  earth-stopper 

XXV  Horse  Companionship    .         275 

Love  of  animals  —  Advice  to  beginners  —  A  long  listof  "don'ts" 

XXVI  The  Consultation  of  War 293 

Arranging   for  a  day's   hunting  —  An  elaborate  preparation  — 
Old  Simpson  at  work 

xxvii  The   Meet 301 

The  M.F.H.  as  host  —  In  discharge  of  his  social  duties  —  In- 
troducing a  few  friends 

XXVIII   Riding  to   Covert 311 

Mounting   for   the   start  —  A  rider  in  a  fight  with  his  horse  — 
Mrs.  So-and-So  and  our  huntsman — Position 

XXIX  The  Game  Itself 325 

Breaking  covert — Full  cry — The  check  —  The  riders  —  The 
death 

XXX  The   Hunt  Dinner 339 

The   huntsman's  toast — "  To  fox-hunting  in  general  "  —  The 
Doctor  tells  a  story 


22 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

Facing  page 

English  foxhound  "  Grafton  Pageant  "     .     .     .     .     Frontispiece 
High-class  grade  thoroughbred  Blue  Rock — hunter  type  ^ 

Heavy-weight  hunter  —  ideal  Irish  type ) 

The  harness  type ) 

The  hack  type ; 

Thoroughbred  stallion  Barrett,  by  Bonnie  Scotland   ...     30 

Rider's  centre  of  gravity,  withers,  shoulder-blade,  true  arm, 

elbow-joint,  and  girths 3^ 

"  A  rap  on  the  shins  that  knocks  the  feeling  out  of  his  legs  "  66 

Rider  in  correct  position  —  front  and  back 92 

The  right  and  the  wrong  way  of  jumping  timber  ....  94 

The  right  and  the  wrong  way  of  landing  over  timber      .     .  98 

Hands  —  correct  and  incorrect  positions 104 

Hands  in  riding 114 

Fast  at  timber,  too  extended ) 

[    118 
Slow  at  timber,  hocks  well  under ) 

"  The  sharp  rowels  of  a  spur  ploughing  across  the  loins  of  a 

horse  " 126 

"  There  is  a  knack  about  falling,  as  there  is  about  swimming  "    138 

'"Catch  my  horse!      Here,  somebody!      I   say,  there,  catch 

my  horse  1 '  " 15 


1 

XV 


xvi  List  of  Illustrations 

Bloodhound    and    greyhound,    ancestors    of   the    English 

foxhound i68 

The  Master's  "priceless  beauties" 172 

"  Delivers  them  into  the  aprons  of  kindly  disposed  farmers' 

wives  " 174 

"Again  you  may  find   her  sleeping  before  the  boiler-room 

fire" 182 

"  But  the  whipper-in  takes  after  him.      '  Ware  rabbit !      Ware 

rabbit!'" 186 

"'There  he  goes,  damn  him  !'  cries  the  deacon  of  the  First 

Baptist  Church  " 1 94 

"'The  way  in  which  they  will  afterward  fool   some  silly  old 

goose  '  " 206 

"Hark  to  Bluebells,  hark  to  Bluebells,"  cries  the  huntsman  216 

Canadian  seven-eighths  thoroughbred  lady's  hunter  .     .      -232 

"We  saw  three  or  four  riders  go  to  grass" 256 

"  It  is  an  old  move  and  has  worked  beautifully  on  many  oc- 
casions " 264 

"  Their  heads  go  up,  their  music  ceases.     Again  they  are  at 

a  check  " 268 

"  She  is  turned  out  on  the  lawn  in  front  of  the  house,  where 

the  grasses  are  tenderest  and  sweetest  " 278 

"'Not  a  man  on  the  place  knows  enough  to  do  my  work  '  "  .   298 

The  colt  out  of  old  Jane  by  Devil-to-Pay 304 

"  There  were  eight  of  us  at  it,  and  seven  got  in  "  .  .  .  .318 
From  scent  to  view  —  "  Hie,  hie,  hie,  hie  !  " 328 

"'Break  him,  my  beauties,  break  him  ! '  " ^3^ 


TRUE    SPORT    AND    SPORTSMANSHIP 


"The  note  of  a  hound,  ever  sweet  to  the  ear. 
Will  leave  you  no  feeling  of  pain; 

It  drives  away  sorrow  and  drives  away  fear. 

Just  hark  at  them  now  as  they  fly  to  the  cheer 
With  a  crash  on  the  velvety  plain." 

POEMS  IN  PINK 


TRUE    SPORT    AND    SPORTSMANSHIP 

THE   WORD    SPORTSMAN    DEFINED ENGLISH   AND   AMERICAN  SPORTS- 
MEN   COMPARED AMERICAN     SCHOOL    AND    COLLEGE    SPORTS 

EFORE  we  consider  hunting  as  a  sport,  let  us 
come  to  an  understanding  as  to  the  meaning 
of  the  words  sportsman,  sporting  man,  and 
"  sport."  In  England  a  sporting  man  is  one 
who  bets  on  horse-races,  follows  the  "  circuit,"  keeps  game- 
birds  or  bulldogs  for  fighting,  or  runs  a  gambling-saloon, 
and  is  reckoned  in  good  society  as  altogether  beyond  the 
pale  of  respectability.  On  the  other  hand,  to  speak  of  a 
man  as  a  "sportsman"  is  to  speak  of  one  who  is  fond  of 
fishing,  yachting,  shooting,  or  hunting  —  hunting  in  Eng- 
land always  meaning  riding  to  hounds,  while  going  for  game 
with  a  gun  is  spoken  of  as  shooting.  To  say  of  a  man  in 
England  that  he  is  a  good  or  genuine  sportsman  means  that 
in  all  such  games  of  sport  he  plays  fair  and  is  gentlemanly, 
honourable,  and  open-handed.  He  asks  no  favours  and  grants 
none,  winning  or  losing  on  his  personal  merits.  In  short, 
a  genuine  sportsman  and  a  genuine  gentleman  are  synony- 
mous terms.  We  are  bound  to  use  the  words  sport  and 
sportsman  very  often   in   the  following  pages,  and  in  every 

3 


4       Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

case  according  to  the  English  usage.  In  America  the  term 
sporting  man  has  much  the  same  significance  as  it  has  in 
England,  with  an  additional  suggestion  of  the  cheap  "sport  " 
in  it,  while  sportsman  is  loosely  used  to  mean  any  one  fond 
of  out-of-door  sport. 

Whatever  we  say  of  England  as  a  nation,  we  must  admit 
that  the  inhabitants  of  that  country  know  how  to  play, 
and  it  is  for  this  reason,  also,  that  they  know  how  to  live. 
They  have  discovered  the  elixir  of  youth  as  has  no  other 
nation.  We  must  also  admit  that  they  know  how  to  play 
fair,  and  that  they  are  the  best  and  most  genuine  sportsmen 
anywhere  to  be  found.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the 
universal  love  of  field-sports  in  England  is  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal causes  of  her  greatness  as  a  nation.  Fair  play  is  a 
cardinal  virtue  among  her  people.  The  lessons  the  youths 
of  England  absorb  from  cricket,  football,  rowing,  and  other 
outdoor  sports  of  skill  and  chance  have  done  as  much  to 
establish  and  maintain  the  supremacy  of  that  little  country 
among  the  nations  of  the  world  as  have  all  her  schools, 
colleges,  and  churches  combined.  I  recognise  that  this  is 
a  sweeping  assertion,  and  perhaps  a  difficult  one  to  prove  ; 
but  I  make  it  with  the  greatest  confidence,  after  considera- 
ble study  and  observation  of  the  English  people.  In  the 
first  place,  their  universal  love  of  field-sports  has  done  more 
than  all  else  to  grow  healthy  men  and  women.  The 
ambition  of  an  English  father  is  to  grow  his  sons  and 
daughters  as  he  would  grow  his  farm  stock  —  fine,  healthy, 
upstanding  animals.  "  Go  out  and  play,"  he  says.  "  I 
want  you  to  grow  up  to  be  big  stout  men  and  women. 
Money  is  no  good  to  a  man  without  a  stomach." 


True  Sport  and  Sportsmanship  5 

Every  English  boy  while  at  school  is  obliged  to  go  out 
and  play.  It  is  a  part  of  his  education.  He  carries  the 
love  of  outdoor  sports  taught  him  at  the  primary  schools 
on  to  college,  and  from  there  into  the  hunting-field.  There 
are  three  thousand  students  at  the  colleges  in  Oxford,  and 
I  am  informed  on  most  reliable  authority  that  over 
two  thousand  of  that  number  are  daily  engaged  in  some 
form  of  field-sport.  I  have  myself  seen  thirty  crews  of 
eight  men  each  rowing  in  a  single  race  at  Oxford. 
These  were  the  freshmen  only,  the  pick  of  at  least  twice 
that  number  of  freshmen  who  were  in  daily  practice.  In 
an  English  college  at  least  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  men  go  in 
for  field-sports.  The  percentage  in  an  American  college 
must  be  considerably  less.  In  England  these  field-sports 
give  place  to  cross-country  riding  to  hounds  when  the  boy 
becomes  a  man.  The  transition  is  easy,  for  many  of  the 
colleges  and  some  of  the  large  grammar-schools  have  packs 
of  foot  beagles  that  once  or  twice  a  week  hunt  the  hare.  It 
is  a  fine  sight  to  see  a  hundred  sturdy  lads  in  the  chase  of 
"  puss  "  to  a  pack  of  twenty  or  thirty  couples  of  beagles. 
There  is  not  a  university  in  England,  I  believe,  but  has  its 
hunt  club,  and  a  goodly  number  of  students  keep  hunters  or 
polo  ponies  that  do  double  duty  one  or  two  days  a  week, 
at  polo,  fox,  or  drag.  Even  if  the  English  boy  has  missed 
this  training  while  at  school  or  college,  his  healthy,  sport- 
hardened  nerves  never  undergo  a  shock  when  he  essays  to 
ride  to  hounds. 

There  are  in  England  and  Scotland,  in  a  territory  little 
larger  than  the  State  of  New  York,  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  packs  of  hounds.      Hunting  is  the  national  sport.      It 


6       Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

is  a  man's  game.  Thousands  of  men  over  fifty  years  of  age 
are  hunting  to-day  in  England;  hundreds  over  sixty  years 
of  age,  men  and  women,  too,  with  grey  hair,  are  riding  to 
hounds  over  some  of  the  roughest  country ;  and  scores  of 
them  seventy  or  even  eighty  years  old  are  at  their  favourite 
pastime,  the  chase  of  the  wild  fox  or  deer.  In  America, 
men  are  too  apt  to  be  old  at  fifty,  too  likely  not  to  have 
any  time  for  play,  or  no  time  for  anything  but  money-mak- 
ing. It  is  greatly  to  be  hoped  that  hunting  may  become 
more  general,  for  there  are  yet  too  few  games  and  dis- 
tractions out  of  doors  for  men.  Athletics  is  the  reigning 
fad  in  America.  Let  one  hope  American  children  will 
develope  a  permanent  love  of  all  manly  sport  for  sport's  sake, 
that  they  may  transmit  to  their  descendants  not  only  clever- 
ness and  ability,  but  robust  and  healthy  bodies. 

Next  to  health,  the  most  desirable  quality  to  cultivate  in 
a  boy  is  courage  and  strength  of  nerve,  and  for  this  there  is 
no  schooling  he  can  possibly  have  like  rough-and-tumble 
field-sports.  Health,  courage,  nerve,  energy,  come  not 
from  learning  how  to  parse  or  figure,  but  from  learning 
how  to  play  ;  and  next  to  health,  strength,  courage,  energy, 
nerve,  the  most  desirable  quality  to  be  developed  in  a  child 
is  fair  dealing.  Where  or  in  what  form  is  it  possible  to 
imagine  a  system  of  schooling  that  will  develope  this  most 
estimable  trait  of  character  like  field-sports  ?  Do  I  place 
too  high  an  estimate  on  the  value  of  play  ?  I  hardly  think 
so.  What  has  all  this  to  do  with  hunting }  It  is  the  very 
foundation  of  it.  The  field-sports  of  the  boys  at  school 
and  college  are  but  the  primary  tutoring  to  cross-country 
riding  for  the  man. 


True  Sport  and  Sportsmanship  7 

The  attainment  of  health  is  the  most  priceless  of  all 
things  earthly  to  be  attained.  Courage  and  nerve  are  the 
outgrowth  of  health,  of  the  power  to  govern  and  to  be 
governed,  and  of  the  practical,  every-day  training  in  that 
most  Christian-like  virtue  of  the  Golden  Rule.  There  is 
still  another  characteristic  of  men  who  never  forget  how  to 
play,  and  that  is  longevity.  Who  can  estimate  the  value  a 
man  would  place,  in  certain  circumstances,  upon  an  exten- 
sion of  time .?  Ask  the  millionaire  who  finds  his  race  run, 
his  bolt  shot,  at  fifty.  All  the  time  that  is  spent  in  outdoor 
sports  is,  I  believe,  in  the  numbering  of  our  days,  so  much 
clear  gain.  And  when  at  last  age  may  rob  the  true  sports- 
man of  active  participation  in  the  chase,  the  sight  of  a 
horse  under  saddle,  a  hound  puppy  at  walk,  will  send  a  glow 
through  his  veins  as  the  touch  of  a  blacksmith's  bellows 
quickens  a  smouldering  fire.  He  is  helped  on  by  a  cheer 
that  gladdens  his  declining  days  as  nothing  else  can.  To 
what  do  old  men  most  lovingly  look  back  as  they  near  the 
"mellow  "  ?  Not  to  the  greatest  sermon,  the  ablest  plea,  the 
most  skilful  operation,  the  stroke  in  business  that  made  a 
million  in  a  single  day :  all  these  things  have  long  since  ceased 
to  charm.  It  is  the  games  and  sports  of  youth  and  man- 
hood that  live  to  the  end.  These  glow  with  fervent  heat. 
The  blood  once  thoroughly  inculcated  by  true  sport  and 
sportsmanship  will  gambol  healthfully  to  the  end.  No 
man,  be  he  king  or  peasant,  can  carry  to  his  grave  more 
agreeable  recollections  than  those  of  the  chase,  the  gun,  or 
the  yacht.  These  live  within  him,  a  well-spring  of  joy  to 
cheer  when  all  that  is  earthly  fails.  Speak  to  any  man  of 
his  favourite  game  of  sport  or  skill,  and  how  pleased  he  is 


8       Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

to  recall  it!  How  youth  comes  back  in  his  gestures,  his 
voice,  his  face,  his  whole  frame,  crippled  and  infirm  it 
may  be,  but  made  to  play  again  as  he  tells  the  oft-repeated 
story  to  his  grandchildren  of  how  he  finished  and  won  the 
great  hunter  point-to-point  steeplechase  when  he  was  a 
boy,  seventy  years  ago,  by  a  neck  !  He  will  tell  you  with 
minutest  detail  of  the  great  fishing  excursions  to  Canada, 
the  shooting  trip  to  the  Adirondacks,  his  horses,  his  dogs, 
his  yacht,  the  run  of  the  hounds.  These  experiences  he 
retains  with  ever-increasing  clearness  until  the  golden  bowl 
is  finally  broken.  You  may  go  still  further  back  to  college 
days,  and  note  what  it  is  that  delights  him  most  —  to  recall 
the  fact  that  he  won  a  scholarship  or  graduated  with  hon- 
ours, or  the  race  of  his  college  crew  in  which  he  took  part. 
If  he  is  a  very  old  man  you  may  go  still  further  back  to 
the  games  of  his  school-days.  Ask  him  how  the  boys  in 
his  day  played  "  two  all  cat,"  "  pom-pom-pull-away," 
"yard  the  sheep,"  "I  spy,"  or  "fox  and  geese,"  and  you 
will  have  a  most  vivid  picture  of  every  move  in  the  game. 
Speak  of  music.  Is  he  fond  of  the  opera  ?  Oh,  yes  !  but 
the  sweetest  music,  the  melody  that  still  fills  his  heart,  is 
the  music  of  the  hound  in  full  cry,  the  lament  of  the 
blocks  when  the  mainsail  is  set,  the  report  of  the  gun,  or 
the  clatter  of  horses'  feet. 

Men  do  not  yet  know  enough  how  to  play  in  America, 
and  I  make  this  plea  to  every  father  and  mother  —  to  give 
their  attention  to  growing  well-developed  animals.  Let 
them  turn  squarely  about,  and  teach  how  to  play,  and  how 
to  play  fair.  Curtail  the  child  in  nothing  that  will  tend 
to  develope  him  physically.      Let  book-learning  take  care 


True  Sport  and  Sportsmanship  9 

of  itself.  One  cannot  develope  or  cultivate  in  one's  children 
a  safer  passion  than  that  for  clean  outdoor  sports.  They 
carry  with  them  no  stain  that  will  not  easily  come  off. 
Though  health  and  strength  are  much  more  to  be  desired 
than  riches,  yet  one  delves  and  saves  and  denies  himself 
everything  to  leave  to  his  children  money,  and  lets  the 
more  important  question  of  robust  constitutions  be  taken 
up  by  chance  and  the  family  physician.  May  every  teacher 
and  college  professor  become  builders  of  bodies  as  well  as 
minds,  educators  of  the  whole  instead  of  a  part.  May 
every  school-boy  and  school-girl,  before  it  is  too  late,  learn 
how  to  play,  how  to  take  defeat  in  a  true  sportsmanlike 
way,  to  love  all  manly  and  womanly  games  of  sport  for 
sport's  sake,  and  live  on  to  enjoy  the  fulness  of  mature 
years  with  the  happy  reflection  of  a  well-spent  life  in  the 
pursuit  of  health-giving  pleasure  and  happiness. 


II 

HUNTING    TERMS 


"  Taught  to  speak 
The  proper  dialect,  with  horn  and  voice 
To  cheer  the  busy  hound." 

SOMERVILLE 


II 

HUNTING    TERMS 

A    learner's     programme TERMS    ANCIENT    AND     MODERN 

S  there  are  many  terms  used  in  hunting  that 
are  as  Greek  to  the  uninitiated,  it  may  not 
be  out  of  place  to  devote  a  few  pages  to  the 
explanation  of  them  before  we  proceed 
further.  We  shall  then  feel  that  our  decks  have  been 
cleared  for  action,  that  our  house  is  in  order ;  or,  as  my 
hunting  friends  might  prefer  to  say,  "  We  are  all  ready 
with  an  early  start  to  follow  the  line  "  ;  we  propose  to  hunt 
in  the  following  pages. 

First,  however,  let  us  find  a  comfortable  seat,  and  spend 
the  evening  talking  horse  and  hound  and  hunting  in  gen- 
eral. To-morrow  morning  we  will  visit  the  kennels,  and 
then  call  on  "old  Simpson,"  the  earth-stopper,  and  get 
him  to  tell  us  what  he  knows  about  foxes.  After  that  we 
will  take  a  horseback  ride,  and  jump  a  few  fences  for  prac- 
tice. In  the  afternoon  we  can  drive  out  to  see  our  first 
fox  chase  from  a  carriage.  In  the  evening  we  will  pay 
our  respects  to  the  master  and  huntsman,  and  the  next 
morning  go  early  to  the  "  meet,"  and  then  *'  hack  to 
covert."      We  shall  have  a  sure  "  find,"  and  no  doubt  we 

•3 


14    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

shall  have  a  "  kill,"  in  which  case  I  hope  the  reader  will 
be  in  at  the  "  death,"  and  be  rewarded  with  the  "  brush," 
the  "mask,"  or  at  least  a  "pad,"  and  be  "blooded  to 
hounds  "  "  in  due  and  ancient  form."  I  warn  him  against 
cutting  corners  or  being  seen  at  too  much  road  or  lane 
riding.  This  is  a  demoralising  practice,  bad  for  both  horse 
and  rider.  Take  my  advice  and  stay  with  the  hounds. 
There  was  never  a  run  but  taught  the  man  of  observation 
something  to  his  advantage.  Even  a  "  blank  day  to 
hounds  "  is  better  than  no  day  at  all.  Now,  then,  let  us  on 
with  it. 

Most  of  these  terms  are  as  given  by  Thomas  Smith,  Esq., 
of  England  in  his  charming  book  "  Extracts  from  the 
Diary  of  a  Huntsman."  The  volume  was  published  in 
1838,  and  has  long  since  been  out  of  print.  The  greater 
part  of  his  expressions  are  still  in  general  use  all  over  Eng- 
land and  America,  with  slight  modifications  and  a  few  cor- 
ruptions. It  is  with  great  pleasure  that  the  author  adds  to 
the  present  work  a  valuable  chapter  for  those  who  wish 
to  use  and  preserve  the  time-honoured  vocabulary  of  the 
chase. 

Cover  hoick  —  throwing  hounds  into  cover. 
Eloo-in  —  into  covert. 
Yoi-over  —  over  fence. 
*Edawick,  Edawick,  Edawick  —  to  make  hounds  draw  in 
cover. 
Yoi  wind  him  —  encourage  hounds  to  draw. 

*  Language  or  sayings  marked  *  have  been  supplied  by  the  author  as  additional  to 
the  list  given  by  Mr.  Smith. 


Hunting  Terms  15 

Yoi  rouse  him,  my  boy,  or.  Rouse  him,  my  beauties  —  en- 
courage hounds  to  draw. 

Hackles  —  when  the  hair  on  a  hound's  back  stands  up- 
right, his  hackles  are  up. 

Hoick  Rector  —  cheer  to  Rector  or  whichever  hound  first 
challenges.      (For  modern  "  Hark  to  Rector."] 

Hoick    together  —  when    hounds    are    scattered,    to    get 
them  together. 

Tally-O,  or,  Tally-O  away  —  when  a  fox  is  viewed  away. 

Tally-O  back  —  when  tox  has  returned  to  covert. 

Yo-hote,  Yo-hote  —  when  "  check"  to  make  hounds  hunt. 

Eloo  at  him,  or,  Tally-O  at  him  —  when  hounds  near  the 
fox. 

Ware  —  huntsman's  or  whipper-in's  cry  to  a  hound  that 
is  running  or  doing  wrong.      "  Ware  rabbit,"  "  Ware 
riot,"  etc. 
*Hi !   Hi  !   Hi  !  —  cheer  to  hounds  when  overtaking  their 

fox.      (Fox  in  view  of  riders.) 
*Babbler  —  a  noisy  hound,  giving  tongue  too  freely. 
*Blank  —  empty.      Covert    is  drawn  blank;    i.e.,   nothing 
found. 

Billet  —  excrement  of  the  fox. 

Burst  —  of  speed.      (First  dash  of  speed.) 

Burst  him  —  when  fox  is  killed.      (Cheer  to  hounds.) 
*Break  him  —  when  fox  is  thrown  to  hounds. 

Burning  scent  —  good. 

Breast-high  —  when   scent  is   so  good  hounds   can   carry 
their  heads  up. 

Carry  a  good  head  —  good  scent  and  wide  enough  for  the 
whole  pack. 


1 6    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

*Cast  —  the   spreading    of  hounds  when  in  search   of  the 

line. 
*Challenge  —  first  hound  to  give  tongue. 
Counter — when  hounds  are   running  opposite  to  the  way 

the  fox  is  travelHng. 
Check  —  hounds  stopped. 

Chopped  a  fox  —  said  when  fox  is  killed  in  covert. 
*Cropper  —  fall  from  a  horse. 
Crash,  a  good  crash  —  when  hounds  are  running  in  covert 

and  every  one  is  throwing  tongue. 
Cub  —  young  fox. 

Cold  hunting  —  when  hounds  can  hardly  "feel  scent." 
Cover  or  covert  —  a  wood  or  any  place  likely  to  conceal 
a  fox. 
*Crop  —  hunting-whip. 
Down  wind  —  with  the  wind. 
Up  wind  —  against  the  wind. 
*Double  —  said  when  a  fox  runs  short  back  on  the  line. 
Drawing  —  when  hounds  are  working  over  a  covert. 
Drag  —  scent  left  by  the  footsteps  of  a  fox  on  his  way  to 

kennel  that  morning. 
Dwelling  —  feeling  a  stale  scent. 
Drafted  —  called  out. 
Earths    are    drawn  —  when   vixen    fox  has    drawn    fresh 

earth; — proof  she  intends  to  lay  her  cub  there. 
Flighty  —  used  of  a  hound  that  is  not  steady. 
Feeling  a  scent  —  said  when  hounds  can  hardly  distinguish 
a  scent. 
*Feather  —  when  hound  is  waving  his  "stern"  (tail)   he 
is  said  to  be  "  feathering." 


Hunting  Terms  17 

Foil  —  used  when  a  fox  runs  the  ground  over  which  he 

has  been  hunted  before. 
Full  cry  —  when  whole  pack  "  throw  tongue." 
Gone  to  ground  —  said  of  a  fox  when  he  goes  to  earth. 
Handles  a  pack  —  used  of  a  huntsman's  management  of 

his  pack. 
Heel — when  hounds  run  a  trail  backward.     (Running  heel.) 
Hitting  it  off —  finding  the  line  after  a  check. 
Hold  hard  —  warning  to  a  rider  to  stop  or  go  slower. 
Holding  scent  —  when  hounds  can  follow,  but  not  fast. 
*Jumping-powder  —  stimulant  taken  from  a  flask. 
*Kennel  —  where   a    fox    sleeps    above-ground  ;    his  bed ; 

where  he  was  kenneled. 
Lifting  —  when  hounds  are  unable  to  find  and  the  hunts- 
man takes  them  on  to  where  he  thinks  the  line  is. 
*Line  hunter  —  a  very  methodical  and  painstaking  hound. 

Main  earths  —  large  breeding  burrows  or  earths. 
*Mask  —  head  of  a  fox. 
Mobbing  a  fox  —  taking  him  at  a  disadvantage. 
Mute  —  hounds   run    mute  when  at   great    speed.      (Not 

giving  tongue.) 
Opens  to  the  scent,  or,  Owning  a  scent  —  said  of  hound 

when  he  "  throws  tongue." 
Pad  —  foot  of  fox. 
Riot  —  when    hounds    run    hare    or    rabbit.      (Compare 

"Ware  riot.") 
*Skirter  —  hound  that  runs  wide  of  the  pack. 

Sinking  —  said  when   fox  shows  signs  of  being  overtaken. 
*Stern  —  tail  of  a  hound. 
Stained  —  Ground  passed  over  by  sheep,  etc. 


1 8     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

Streaming  —  hounds  running  like  flock,  of  pigeons. 

Speaks  —  when  hound  owns  scent,  speaks  to  it,  or  gives 
tongue. 
*Thong  —  lash  of  a  hunting-crop. 

Thrown  up  —  check. 

Ticklish  scent  —  one  that  varies  or  is  uncertain. 
*Vixen  —  female  fox. 


Ill 

THE  HUNTER:    HIS  CONFORMATION 


"  Be  to  his  faults  a  little  blind. 
Be  to  his  virtues  ever  kind." 

JOROCKS 


Ill 

THE   HUNTER:    HIS    CONFORMATION 

HEAD NECK SHOULDERS BACK LOIN    QUARTERS BODY 

LEGS DISPOSITION 

HUNTING  man  is  apt  to  have  rather  fixed 
notions  as  to  how  a  hunter  should  be  built. 
His  ideal  is  generally  the  likeness  of  some 
good,  faithful  beast  that  has  carried  him  with 
the  greatest  ease  and  safety;  which  is  only  another  way 
of  saying  that  a  good  hunter,  whatever  he  is  like,  however 
he  is  formed,  however  he  is  bred,  whatever  his  colour,  if  he 
suits  and  fits  us,  is  not  a  bad  horse. 

The  one  horse  among  the  multitude  that  have  passed 
through  my  hands,  by  which  all  horses  are  compared  and 
come  short,  was  one  Brunett,  a  three-quarter-bred  Cana- 
dian thoroughbred.  In  conformation  she  was  a  collec- 
tion of  minor  faults.  She  was  a  little  over  on  her  knees, 
slightly  sickle-hocked,  rather  long  in  the  back,  had  ragged 
hips,  a  large  plain  head,  and  the  longest  ears  I  have  ever 
seen  on  anything  but  a  mule;  nevertheless  she  was  such  an 
animal  as  one  meets  with  but  once  in  a  lifetime.  She  had 
courage,  spirit,  light-heartedness,  a  happy  disposition,  rare 
intelligence,  and    the   most    charming  manner   in   harness. 


2  2     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

She  was  also  the  most  deHghtful  hack  that  ever  carried  a 
saddle.  There  were  bolder-going  cross-country  horses  and 
faster,  but  none  ever  enjoyed  the  game  better;  and  although 
she  was  only  fifteen  and  one  half  hands,  and  apparently  not 
up  to  my  weight,  I  never  fathomed  her  staying  qualities. 
I  did  not  know  as  much  about  horses  then  as  I  do  now,  or 
I  never  should  have  parted  with  her.  Take  my  advice:  if 
you  ever  come  across  a  horse  that  thoroughly  suits  you,  let 
neither  love  nor  money  take  him  from  you.  The  chances 
are  one  in  a  thousand  you  will  ever  find  another. 

But  what  suits  one  person  will  not  always  suit  another. 
The  man  to  whom  I  sold  Brunett  sold  her  back  to  me  two 
years  later  without  expressing  very  deep  regret.  She  went 
to  the  Azore  Islands  for  a  gentleman's  hack,  and  I  have 
been  looking  for  another  Brunett  ever  since. 

The  pick  of  the  stable,  good,  honest,  and  sound, 
How  eager  she  was  at  the  note  of  a  hound  ! 

Again,  the  next  best  horse  I  ever  owned  was,  without 
doubt,  the  homeliest  mare  that  ever  graced  the  Genesee 
Valley.  She  came  so  near  to  Brunett  in  disposition  and 
characteristics  that  I  would  have  her.  She  is  such  a 
homely  horse  that  no  one  has  ever  asked  the  price  of  her. 
She  is  now  twenty-two  or  twenty-three  years  old,  and  has 
for  the  last  fifteen  years  been  one  of  the  family.  Yet,  old 
as  she  is,  none  can  outshine  her,  either  on  a  short  run  or 
in  the  lead  tandem,  where,  to  this  day,  she  is  very  proud 
of  herself  A  Kentucky  negro,  seeing  her  driven  into 
town  one  day,  described   her:   "She  ain't  nothin'   to  look 


High-class  grade  thoroughbred  Bkie  Rock — hunter  type. 


Heavy-weight  hunter  —  ideal  Irish  type. 


The  Hunter:    His  Conformation  23 

at  when  she  's  a-standin',  but  she  's  a  sho-nufF  cake-walk 
mare  when  she  am  a-goin'  !  "  Dear  old  mare  !  Every  one 
laughs  at  her,  but  we  love  her  just  the  same. 

Pardon  my  digression  !  The  above  had  to  come  out 
somewhere  in  this  book,  and  it  may  just  as  well  be  first  as 
last.  Besides,  it  illustrates  my  point :  "  Handsome  is  that 
handsome  does."  I  do  not  mean  to  say,  of  course,  that 
only  homely  and  unshapely  horses  make  the  best  hunters. 
Neither  of  the  horses  I  have  just  mentioned  was  an  ideal 
except  in  manners  and  way  of  going,  which  in  a  hunter  or 
saddle-horse  more  than  in  any  other  are  nearly  the  sum 
total  of  excellence.  I  mean  to  say,  never  discard  a  horse 
that  displeases  you  only  by  his  looks.  Nevertheless  there 
are  some  points  in  the  conformation  of  a  hunter  that  can 
hardly  be  ignored.  Some  general  rules,  mostly  with  nu- 
merous exceptions,  it  will  be  well  to  keep  in  mind  when 
passing  judgment  on  a  horse  for  cross-country  work. 

A  large  brainy  head,  with  broad  forehead  and  mild  out- 
standing eyes,  is,  as  far  as  my  experience  goes,  one  of  the 
points  to  insist  upon.  Some  horses  with  a  thimbleful  of 
brains  are  made  to  hunt,  but  without  sufficient  intelligence 
to  go  with  judgment  as  well  as  courage.  One  who  pos- 
sesses mere  valour  can  never  attain  more  than  a  moderate 
degree  of  proficiency. 

Some  fools  of  horses  may  be  driven  through  a  run,  but 
they  do  not  enjoy  it;  they  are  simply  slaves.  Deliver  me 
from  keeping  company  with  such  an  one  in  the  hunting- 
field !  Hunting  is,  or  should  be,  a  partnership  game,  in 
which  you  and  your  friend  the  horse  go  out  for  a  day's 
sport.     The  more    intelligent   the  horse,   the    more   level- 


24    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

headed,  the  more  capable  he  is  of  entering  into  the  spirit 
of  the  game,  and  of  enjoying  the  day's  run  as  well  as  his 
master.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that,  besides  size 
of  brain,  quality  also  is  to  be  looked  for.  There  are  big 
basswood-headed  horses,  and  there  are  small  hickory-headed 
horses.  Quantity  must  not  be  confounded  with  quality. 
Some  brainy  horses  have  from  past  bad  management  had 
their  nerves  shattered,  so  to  speak,  and  what  brains  they 
have  are  a  damage  to  them.  On  this  point  a  study  of 
physiognomy  is  a  help. 

There  are  many  rattle-headed,  nervous,  high-strung 
horses  that  make  good  jumpers,  but  not  every  good  fencer 
is,  by  that  same  token,  a  good  hunter.  Almost  anything 
in  the  shape  of  a  horse  can  pull  a  harrow  or  go  in  harness, 
but  for  cross-country  work  a  horse  must  possess  the  very 
highest  qualities  and  the  sum  total  of  all  the  virtues  of  the 
equine  race.  He  should  possess  courage  that  stops  just 
short  of  recklessness,  great  nervous  force  with  coolness, 
great  energy  with  judgment,  light-heartedness  without  fool- 
ishness, staying  qualities  of  the  best,  good  breeding,  perfect 
manners.  These  are  the  qualifications  of  a  high-class 
cross-country  horse.  These  are  also  the  qualifications  of  a 
high-class  cross-country  rider.  If  they  are  to  be  omitted 
from  either,  the  horse  should  not  be  the  one  to  suffer,  for 
he  has  to  look  out  for  himself  and  the  rider  as  well.  Be- 
sides all  this,  the  horse  must  have  suitable  conformation  for 
the  work,  be  a  good  feeder,  and  sound. 

One  can  hardly  hope  to  find  so  many  qualifications  in  a 
single  animal,  but  if  a  horse  that  approaches  this  standard 
is  found,  forgive  his   shortcomings  and  be  consoled  with 


The  Hunter:    His  Conformation  25 

the  reflection  that  if  he  is  not  as  good  as  he  should  be,  he 
might  have  been  worse.  Remember  this,  too,  that  it  is 
the  part  of  horsemanship  to  fit  the  rider  to  the  horse  rather 
than  to  try  to  make  the  horse  fit  the  rider.  The  greatest 
and  best  thing  of  all  is  to  find  in  a  horse  an  agreeable 
companion.  A  man  will  get  on  better  with  an  old  farm- 
horse  that  fits  him  than  with  a  two-thousand-dollar  quali- 
fied hunter  that  does  not. 

I  have  heard  some  men  declare  that  no  horse  likes  hunt- 
ing. I  am  positive  this  is  a  mistake.  No  horse  would 
like  hunting  with  some  men,  but  most  horses  with  the 
proper  conformation  for  saddle  work  do  enjoy  hunting 
when  they  are  properly  ridden.  I  have  seen  and  schooled 
many  green  horses  that  from  weanlings  took  readily  to 
jumping,  and  several  that  when  turned  into  a  runway  would 
jump  back  and  forth  over  the  hurdles  of  their  own  accord. 
I  have  had  several  green  horses  that,  as  soon  as  mounted, 
would  of  their  own  accord  start  away  to  the  schooling- 
ground.  Of  some  of  these  it  has  been  hard  to  say  whether 
they  enjoyed  the  sport  or  not  until  they  met  hounds,  and 
then  they  were  as  ambitious  to  get  on  with  them  as  the 
rider,  and  not  from  excitement  or  fear,  as  one  could  tell  by 
the  collected  way  in  which  they  jumped,  but  from  sheer 
love  of  the  sport.  At  a  check  other  horses  could  come 
and  go,  but  directly  hounds  moved  they  were  oflF.  I 
am  speaking  now  of  green  horses.  To  some  horses  hunt- 
ing is  an  irksome  task  that  never  becomes  anything  but 
work  or  drudgery  ;  yet  I  believe  that  a  large  number  of 
well-bred  horses,  providing,  mind  you,  they  are  not  pun- 
ished at  their  jumps  by  severe  hands  or  spurs,  really  enjoy 


26     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

the  sport.  It  also  goes  without  saying  that  there  must  be 
a  great  difference  between  a  horse  that  has  his  heart  in  the 
sport  and  goes  at  it  like  a  school-boy  from  his  books,  and 
one  that  has  only  a  poor  gizzard  for  the  work.  I  have 
dwelt  on  this  point  because  it  demonstrates  what  I  wish  to 
bring  out  farther  on  in  the  chapter  on  '*  Schooling 
Hunters." 

Horses  with  short,  thick  necks  do  not  make  good  hun- 
ters. I  do  not  know  of  any  exception  to  this  rule.  They 
are  not  easily  brought  to  hand ;  they  invariably  rein  badly, 
and  are  apt  to  have  hard,  unyielding  mouths.  Avoid  also 
a  horse  that  carries  a  high  head.  This  is  another  rule 
without  an  exception.  The  head  of  a  hunter  is  quite  high 
enough  when  his  eyes  are  on  a  line  with  the  height  of  his 
withers,  as  in  the  picture  at  page  22.  This  low  carriage 
of  a  hunter's  head  is  very  important,  and  for  several  reasons: 
( 1 )  It  enables  the  rider  to  lean  well  forward  as  his  mount 
begins  to  spring  at  a  jump  (see  page  96),  and  still  have 
room  for  the  horse  to  throw  up  his  head  with  freedom  in 
the  natural  act  of  jumping,  without  hitting  the  rider  in  the 
face.  This  point  will  be  noticed  more  fully  later  on.  (2) 
High-headed  horses  must  be  ridden  with  a  shorter  rein 
than  horses  with  their  necks  straight.  This  is  an  objec- 
tionable feature,  because,  the  longer  the  reins,  the  better  and 
easier  the  control.  This  will  be  referred  to  again  in  the  chap- 
ters on  "  Hands"  and  "  Pulling."  (3)  When  a  high-headed 
horse  is  ridden  at  a  jump,  especially  if  he  pulls  and  his  head 
comes  higher  than  its  natural  carriage,  the  animal  is  in  a 
most  awkward  position  to  take  his  fence.  He  does  so  at 
the  expense  of  an  unnecessary  amount  of  exertion,  while 


The  Hunter:    His  Conformation  27 

the  rider's  control  of  his  mount  is  gone.  (See  page  28.)  If 
there  is  one  sight  more  annoying  than  another,  it  is  a  high- 
headed  horse  charging  at  fences  and  gazing  at  the  stars. 
No  one  likes  to  put  martingales  on  hunters,  and  very  prop- 
erly not,  for  they  need  absolute  freedom  of  their  heads  at 
their  jumps. 

The  position  of  the  horse's  head  (page  92),  when  prop- 
erly held,  gives  to  the  hands  the  greatest  length  of  rein 
and  the  best  possible  control  of  the  mount.  Control  begins 
to  lessen  as  the  head  is  raised  above  this  point.  That  a 
rather  high-headed  horse  may,  by  being  ridden  with  a  curb- 
bit  properly  handled,  have  his  head  held  in  its  proper  place, 
there  is  no  doubt.  What  I  wish  to  point  out  is  simply 
the  most  natural  and  best  conformation  or  carriage  of  a 
hunter's  head  and  neck,  not  the  method  of  driving  a  high- 
headed  harness  type  of  a  horse  so  that  he  may  carry  his 
head  as  it  should  be  when  he  is  under  saddle.  Riders  who 
have  had  their  glasses  smashed,  their  hats  knocked  off, 
their  teeth  loosened,  trying  to  make  into  a  hunter  a  horse 
good  except  that  he  carried  his  head  too  high,  will  be  shy 
in  the  future  of  high-headed  horses  for  hunting.  This 
point  will  be  found  illustrated  at  page  28.  While  a 
hunter  should  be  long  in  the  neck,  the  neck  should  not 
be  drawn  too  fine.  Horses  with  very  slim  necks  gener- 
ally bend  them  too  easily.  Nothing  is  more  annoying 
than  a  horse  that  turns  only  his  head  in  answer  to  a  pull 
on  the  reins,  while  his  body  goes  straight  on.  One  of  the 
worst  falls  I  ever  saw  in  the  hunting-field  was  with  just 
such  a  horse.  Slim  Neck  wanted  to  follow  the  horse  in 
front  of  him.      The  rider,  seeing  that  the  ground  was  too 


2  8     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

soft  on  the  landing  side,  attempted  to  pull  his  horse  away ; 
but  the  horse,  instead  of  answering  to  his  hand  with  a  turn 
of  his  body,  brought  his  head  round  until  it  nearly  touched 
his  rider's  leg.  On  went  the  mount,  striking  the  rail  fence 
breast-high,  horse,  rider,  and  fence  coming  down  in  a  crash. 
The  rider  was  caught  by  the  fence,  and  pinned  to  earth 
between  it  and  his  horse  —  a  sickening  sight.  Fortunately 
for  the  rider,  the  ground  was  soft.  Beside  having  an 
awful  shaking  up,  and  the  flesh  of  his  legs  horribly  scraped 
and  bruised,  he  was  left  unconscious  for  several  hours.  The 
same  thing  occurred  to  a  friend  of  mine,  whose  horse  went 
slam-bang  against  a  barbed-wire  fence  because  his  neck  was 
too  weak  or  too  limber  to  answer  to  the  pull  of  the  rider. 
The  poor  beast  was  horribly  mangled  and  nearly  ruined 
for  life. 

I  have  dwelt  upon  this  point  because  it  is  one  seldom,  if 
ever,  mentioned  by  writers,  and  because  we  hear  so  much 
nowadays  about  having  "plenty  of  horse  in  front  of  you." 
So  there  should  be;  but  look  well  to  the  substance  of  a 
hunter's  neck.  "There  is  ain  thing  aboot  a  hunter  a  canna 
forgie,"  said  a  keen  hunting  friend  of  mine  in  Scotland, 
"  and  that  is  a  neck  with  na  starch  in  it  !  "  The  neck 
can  hardly  be  too  long  unless  too  thin;  it  can  hardly  be 
too  low  unless  too  short  and  thick,  and  of  two  evils  better 
a  horse  that  bores  than  a  horse  that  soars.  You  sometimes 
see  in  a  dealer's  stables  these  up-headed  horses.  They  are 
generally  clean  trotting-bred  animals  that  have  had  their 
manes  pulled  and  their  tails  chopped  off,  and  these  are 
their  principal  qualifications  as  hunters.  Some  of  them  can 
jump,  and  we  have  seen   this  sort  win  at   Madison   Square 


I'he  harness  type. 


Ihe  hack  type. 


The  Hunter:    His  Conformation  29 

when  conformation  counted  fifty  or  sixty  per  cent.  To  an 
experienced  cross-country  rider,  however,  they  look  sadly 
out  of  form. 

"Slanting  shoulders"  is  everywhere  the  cry.  Every 
author  I  have  read,  and  nearly  every  man  that  rides  to 
hounds,  if  he  hardly  knows  the  fetlock  from  the  forelock, 
will  tell  you  a  horse  is  no  good  for  a  hunter  without  slant- 
ing shoulders.  So  universal  has  this  cry  become  that  it 
suggests  the  parrot.  "Slanting  shoulders!  Look  at  his 
slanting  shoulders!"  But  when  you  ask  a  man  why  he  is 
so  fond  of  slanting  shoulders,  the  usual  answer  is:  "Well, 
because  "^  hunter  should  have  slanting  shoulders!"  Occa- 
sionally a  man  will  venture  to  say  a  horse  with  slanting 
shoulders  can  gallop  faster.  This  is  manifestly  incorrect. 
Some  of  the  fastest  horses  that  have  ever  turned  a  track 
have  had  rather  upright  and  sometimes  even  loaded 
shoulders. 

There  was  the  celebrated  thoroughbred  stallion  Barrett, 
by  Bonnie  Scotland,  that  held  the  three-quarter-mile  record 
(1.14)  for  years.  He  was  sent  to  England  by  Mr.  Pierre 
Lorillard,  with  Iroquois,  at  the  time  that  horse  won  the 
Derby,  being  the  owner's  favourite  for  that  event,  but 
scratched  for  uncertain  starting  at  the  post.  This  horse 
Barrett  had  not  only  rather  upright  but  decidedly  loaded 
shoulders.  This,  indeed,  was  the  characteristic  of  many  of 
the  Bonnie  Scotlands,  and  as  a  family  they  were  the  most 
celebrated  record-breaking  runners  of  their  generation. 
So  much  for  galloping.  Through  the  kindness  of  Mr. 
Thomas  Hitchcock,  Jr.,  Barrett  was  sent  to  Genesee  Val- 
ley, and  for  eleven  years  was  at  the  head  of  the  Squawkie 


30    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

Hill  Stud  for  getting  hunters.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
although  most  of  his  descendants  were  similar  in  confor- 
mation  in  this  respect,  no  other  thoroughbred  stallion  in 
America  has  produced  so  many  high-class  cross-country 
horses  as  this  same  stallion  Barrett.  So  much  for  the 
jumping.  We  must  look  further  than  simply  the  slant  of 
a  hunter's  shoulder.  I  am  sorry  to  antagonise  this  most 
common  belief  in  slanting  shoulders  ;  one  dislikes  to  sow 
seeds  of  discord  among  pet  theories.  But  this  slanting- 
shoulder  craze  has  gone  beyond  all  reason. 

Let  us  see  if  we  cannot  find  a  better  reason  than  because^ 
or  speedy  ox  jutnping  qualities.  Let  us  see  if  we  cannot  set  up 
a  hypothesis  that  will  stand  more  of  an  assault  than  the 
present  theories  for  slanting  shoulders.  A  little  reflection 
will  prove  that  the  proper  position  of  a  saddle  on  a  horse 
for  cross-country  work,  where  there  is  jumping  to  be  done, 
is  one  that  places  the  rider  well  back,  so  that  his  weight 
comes  as  near  the  centre  of  gravity  as  possible.  Flat-ra- 
cing and  cross-country  riding  are  things  of  entirely  different 
colour.  The  forward  seat,  over  the  horse's  shoulders, —  a 
seat,  in  fact,  where  the  position  of  a  jockey  lying  along  the 
neck  of  his  mount  brings  the  rider's  centre  of  gravity  well 
over,  if  not  forward  of,  the  fore  legs  of  his  mount, —  has 
been  demonstrated  beyond  question  to  be  the  very  best  po- 
sition under  which  a  horse  on  the  flat  can  extend  him- 
self. Doubtless  a  horse  with  the  weight  on  the  shoulders 
makes  the  lift  of  the  weight  with  the  spring  of  the  fore 
legs,  which  leaves  the  hind  legs  and  quarters  to  do  the  pro- 
pelling with  the  least  possible  hindrance.  On  the  other 
hand,  while  a  horse  may  be  ridden  with  the  centre  of  grav- 


O 

CO 


o 


-13 

tJ3 

3 
O 

O 


The  Hunter:    His  Conformation         31 

ity  over  his  fore  legs  across  a  field,  it  is  obvious  that  in  tak- 
ing a  fence  the  best,  the  easiest,  the  most  secure  position  of 
the  rider  must  be  well  back.  The  position  of  a  boy  on  a 
rocking-horse,  or  a  person  in  a  rocking-chair,  best  illustrates 
my  meaning.  When  the  centre  of  gravity  on  either  the 
wooden  rocking-horse  or  rocking-chair  is  forward  of  the 
centre,  the  motion  is  laboured  and  all  in  one  direction.  If 
a  person  sits  too  far  forward  in  a  rocking-chair,  the  forward 
rock  corresponds  to  the  landing  side  of  a  jump,  and  assists 
greatly  in  producing  a  spill.  Seated  too  far  back,  one  can- 
not make  the  rocker  go  forward  without  an  undue  exertion. 
This  illustrates  the  taking-off  position  of  a  jump  :  the  horse, 
like  the  person  in  the  rocker,  must  make  an  unusual  effort 
to  carry  the  rider  forward.  This  is  so  plain  and  simple  a 
condition  that  it  seems  almost  absurd  to  mention  it.  How- 
ever, it  best  illustrates  the  point  under  discussion.  The 
theory  of  slanting  shoulders  is  that  they  usually  (but  not 
always)  have  the  effect  of  keeping  the  saddle  well  back,  so 
that  the  rider  does  sit  nearly  at  the  centre  of  gravity  of  his 
mount.  This  he  is  able  to  maintain,  when  the  horse  is 
jumping,  by  simply  leaning  well  forward  as  the  animal  rises 
to  the  obstacle,  sitting  upright  when  over  the  centre,  and 
leaning  well  back  as  the  animal  descends,  as  illustrated  at 
page  98.  So  far,  I  venture  to  say,  the  majority  of  my 
readers  will  agree.  But,  I  ask,  what  is  the  value  of  slant- 
ing shoulders  when,  as  sometimes  happens,  a  horse  is  low 
in  the  withers,  letting  the  saddle  well  forward  ?  It  is  evi- 
dent that,  for  keeping  the  rider  back  near  the  centre  of 
gravity,  high,  sloping  withers  have  quite  as  much  virtue  as 
slanting  shoulders,  for  a  horse  may  have  the  latter  without 


3  2     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

the  former.  Personally,  I  prefer  a  rather  straight  shoulder- 
blade,  with  high,  full,  sloping  withers,  to  the  most  slanting 
shoulder-blade  with  low  withers  that  lets  the  saddle  forward 
on  the  shoulders.  It  is  not  enough  to  go  strong  on  slant- 
ing shoulders,  when  it  is  quite  as  much  a  question  of  the 
conformation  of  the  withers,  and  more  a  question  of  the 
setting  on  of  the  fore  legs.  That  many  men  confound 
withers  and  shoulders,  there  can  be  little  doubt ;  this  point 
is  fully  illustrated  at  page  32.  Nor  is  this  all:  if  a  horse, 
as  is  quite  often  the  case,  has  slanting  shoulders,  and  also  a 
long  oblique  true  arm  that  brings  the  setting  on  of  the  fore 
legs  well  back,  you  have  lost  at  this  point  all  you  have 
gained  by  the  slanting  shoulder.  In  other  words,  when 
you  have  a  slanting  shoulder  with  a  long  oblique  true  arm, 
it  may  bring  the  fore  leg  so  far  back  that  the  centre  of 
gravity  has  practically  been  moved  ahead.  So  far,  there- 
fore, as  gravity  is  concerned,  you  might  just  as  well  have 
either  a  straight  shoulder  with  high,  full  withers,  or  a 
straight  shoulder  with  a  short  upright  and  true  arm.  Or, 
again,  if  you  have  a  slanting  shoulder  with  a  long  oblique 
true  arm,  or  a  slanting  shoulder  with  low  withers,  the  end 
in  view  has  been  defeated.  I  have  dwelt  on  this  at  length 
because  slanting  shoulders  are  everywhere  so  much  in 
favour,  as  if  they  were  the  alpha  and  omega  of  a  hunter's 
conformation.  At  page  32  will  be  found  an  illustration 
(Fig.  3)  showing  the  conformation  of  an  ideal  hunter  with 
full,  sloping  withers  that  bring  the  rider  well  back  over  the 
centre  of  gravity  on  the  upper  line  ;  it  will  be  observed,  too, 
from  the  position  where  the  girth  would  come,  that  the 
fore  legs  also  are  properly  placed ;  that  is,  well  forward. 


eg,   Kider's  centre  ol  gravity;   7f,  withers;    s,  shoulder-blade;   /,  true  arm ;    f,  elbow-joint;  g^  girths. 

Fig.  t.   Upright  shoulder  with  full  sloping  withers,  keeping  saddle  and  rider  well  back  over  horse's  centre  :  ^j^',  gravity. 

Fig.  2.  Slanting  shoulder  with  low  withers,  letting  rider  four  or  five  inches  farther  forward  than  in  Fig.  i. 

Fig.  J.  Slanting  shoulder,  full  sloping  withers  with  upright  true  arm,  t)ringing  horse's  fore  leg  well  forward  of  girths ; 

best  possible  conformalinn  for  cross-country  work. 
Fig.  4'  Slanting  shoulder  and  full  withers,  same  as  Fig.  3,  but  along  ..blique  true  arm,  placing  the  fore  legs  farther  back 

than  in  Fig    3,  practically  moves  rider's  centre  uf  gravity  forward  in  spite  of  slanting  shoulder  and  full  withers. 


The  Hunter:    His  Conformation  33 

The  reason  why  ladies  in  riding  cross  country  to  hounds 
are  so  uniformly  successful  in  negotiating  fences  without 
falls  is  owing  undoubtedly  to  their  sitting  sideways  on  the 
horse;  that  is  to  say,  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  rider  is 
more  generally  brought  over  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the 
horse  than  in  the  case  of  men,  who,  riding  astride,  sit  more 
forward,  especially  if  they  ride  with  long  stirrups. 

We  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  to  this  matter  again 
when  speaking  of  "  Seat  "  and  "Jumping  Fences."  The 
whole  thing  is  summed  up :  Select  a  horse  with  withers 
running  well  back  and  fore  legs  well  forward  of  the  girth  ; 
these  points  secured,  the  shoulders  may  be  left  to  take  care 
of  themselves.  It  is  doubtful  if  the  mere  slant  of  the 
shoulder-blades  plays  any  great  part  in  the  conformation  of 
a  hunter.  It  must  be  said,  however,  that  the  right  sort  of 
withers  are  more  often  found  in  company  with  slanting 
shoulders  than  otherwise. 

As  for  hips,  do  not  turn  your  back  on  a  horse  with 
rather  ragged  hips  and  a  sloping  rump.  They  are  not  pretty 
or  symmetrical,  but  if  they  carry  the  muscle  well  down  to 
the  hocks,  you  generally  find  that  such  a  horse  can  gather 
his  legs  well  under  him  for  a  spring,  as  shown  at  page  i  18. 
This  is  one  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  the  Irish  hunter, 
and  for  fencing  he  has  no  equal. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  mention  legs,  those  necessary 
auxiliaries  to  a  horse.  Plenty  of  bone  and  especially  large 
knee  and  hock  joints  are  most  desirable.  Pasterns  on  the 
long  side  for  choice,  and  plenty  of  room  between  elbow-joint 
and  body,  are  desirable.  Do  not  be  over-particular  about 
splints  or  even  curbs.     The  former  are  found  on  three-  and 


34    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

four-year-olds  more  often  than  in  horses  of  six  and  seven 
years.  They  usually  disappear  by  absorption.  That  a  young 
horse  has  them  is  as  much  to  his  credit  as  it  is  for  a  child 
to  have  the  measles  or  chicken-pox. 

Splints,  and  curbs  too,  lame  a  horse  sometimes  when  they 
first  appear.  Do  not  condemn  a  horse  with  sickle  hocks  if 
there  is  plenty  of  bone.  They  are  very  often  found  on  the 
most  powerful  jumpers. 

Do  not  require  a  hunter  to  be  too  short-coupled.  This 
is  another  threadbare  sign  that  is  always  quoted  as  desirable. 
If  a  horse  is  to  gallop  he  must  have  length  somewhere. 
If  he  has  a  short  top  line  or  coupling,  he  must  have  length 
underneath  or  he  cannot  stride  away.  There  must  be  roona 
to  get  the  stifles  forward,  or  you  will  have  a  short  choppy- 
gaited  horse,  and  a  most  uncomfortable  one.  The  short 
back  is  well  enough  theoretically,  but  not  in  practice. 
Three  and  even  four  inches  between  the  last  rib  and  hip 
are  not  too  much,  unless  the  horse  has  a  weak  loin.  A 
light,  slack  loin  is  to  be  avoided  in  a  horse,  whether  his 
back  be  long  or  short. 

A  horse  is  usually  as  long  in  the  body  as  he  is  high  from 
the  ground  to  the  top  of  the  withers.  In  many  standard 
bred  trotters  and  in  some  thoroughbreds  length  exceeds 
height.     This  proportion  is  also  desirable  in  a  hunter. 

A  well-formed  horse  usually  measures  as  far  from  the 
top  of  the  withers  to  the  under  side  of  the  body  just  back 
of  the  fore  legs  as  he  does  from  that  point  to  the  ground. 
If  there  is  any  difference  in  this  measurement,  let  it  be 
added   to   the  body,   not  to  the  legs.       A  sixteen-and-one 


The  Hunter:    His  Conformation  35 

body,  both  in  height  and  length,  on  fifteen-three  legs  is  far 
preferable  to  the  reverse. 

A  hunter,  to  be  comfiDrtable,  should  not  unduly  spread 
the  legs  ot  his  rider  by  being  too  wide  through  the  heart. 
However,  the  other  extreme  is  equally  bad,  for  there  must 
be  lung  capacity  ;  and  whatever  a  horse  lacks  in  breadth 
through  the  heart  he  should  make  up  in  depth  ;  the  deeper 
the  better.  The  round-backed  and  thick-hearted  horses  so 
desirable  in  harness  are  not  to  be  considered  for  a  moment 
for  saddle  work,  especially  if  they  have,  as  is  usually  the 
case,  low  withers.  When  you  have  had  a  saddle  turn  with 
you  once  or  twice,  you  will,  like  the  writer,  have  learned 
this  lesson  by  heart.  Broad-chested  horses  are  very  apt  to 
roll  in  their  gait. 

For  size,  the  question  depends  somewhat  on  the  country 
to  be  hunted.  A  rough  country  requires  a  smaller  or 
shorter-legged  horse  than  a  country  which  is  fiat.  My 
own  experience  is  that  a  horse  from  fifteen-two-and-a-half 
to  fifteen-three  is  invariably  the  best  in  jumping  and  staying 
qualities.  To  a  man  on  a  horse  of  sixteen  hands  the  fences 
do  not  look  so  high,  but  this  is  of  slight  advantage  when 
other  aspects  of  the  problem  are  considered.  The  truth  is, 
there  seems  to  be  just  about  so  much  force  or  endurance  in 
a  horse,  and  this  lessens  as  you  spread  it  out  over  more  than 
the  natural  size  of  the  family  to  which  the  horse  belongs. 
Increased  size  invariably  brings  coarseness,  putting  the 
animal,  so  to  speak,  out  of  balance  with  himself. 

As  to  disposition,  the  best  in  the  world  is  none  too  good. 
A  man   may  have  ridden  all  sorts  of  horses  and  first-class 


36     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

jumpers,  but  if  he  has  never  found  a  partner  with  intelli- 
gence enough  to  enjoy  the  sport  as  well  as  he  himself  does, 
he  has  yet  to  enjoy  one  of  the  principal  delights  of  a  day 
with  hounds.  Such  horses  are  not  plentiful.  When  a  man 
finds  one,  he  will  probably  regret  it  as  long  as  he  lives  if  he 
parts  with  him.  Out  of  a  hundred  hunters  you  can  prob- 
ably count  the  genuine  sportsmen,  the  genuine  hunters,  on 
the  fingers  of  one  hand.  In  this  respect  the  Irish  hunters 
outclass  all  others.  They  are  like  the  people  who  breed 
them,  always  ready  for  a  lark,  yet  having  the  keenest  in- 
stinct for  self-preservation.  They  are  light-hearted  to  a 
degree,  and  nothing  suits  them  better  than  to  have  a  hurly- 
burly  rough-and-tumble  scurry  across  country.  They  are 
just  reckless  and  bold  enough  for  such  a  game,  and  when 
mouthed  and  educated  as  only  Irish  hunters  are,  they  will 
give  you  a  day's  hunting  to  be  remembered  as  long  as 
you  live.  I  have  seen  them  so  joyous  at  the  sight  of  hounds 
as  fairly  to  squeal  with  delight,  jumping  and  playing  from 
sheer  effervescence  of  light-heartedness.  Such  an  one  is 
the  horse  for  a  companion,  the  horse  for  a  partner  in  a 
day's  sport.  A  genuine  sportsman  himself,  he  will  pull  you 
through.      His  heart  as  well  as  yours  is  in  the  game. 

There  remains  the  final  test  of  what  may  be  called  "  the 
personal  equation."  If  he  fails  to  pass  this,  reject  him  on 
the  spot.  You  may  be  surprised  to  find  your  supposed  ideal 
hunter  not  at  all  to  your  liking.  He  does  not  fit  you,  and 
you  cannot  seem  to  make  yourself  lit  him.  You  feel  un- 
comfortable on  him,  just  as  you  would  on  a  rocking-horse 
or  a  rocking-chair  that  pitched  you  too  freely  forward  or 
backward.      Seated  on  a  horse  that  feels  comfortable  under 


The  Hunter:    His  Conformation  37 

you  in  all  his  paces,  you  have  found  the  horse  for  you. 
Look  no  further,  let  size,  colour,  markings,  or  confor- 
mation be  what  they  may.  You  will  be  surprised,  in  try- 
ing twenty  fine-looking  horses,  to  find,  perhaps,  that  only 
four  or  five  seem  to  fit  you.  A  personal  trial  is  the  supreme 
test  of  excellence  in  a  hunter. 


IV 

BREEDING    HUNTERS 


"  The  grass  in  the  paddock  grows  up  to  her  chest, 
Her  tail  has  grown  down  to  the  ground. 
There  under  the  oak  she  is  taking  her  rest  ; 
Her  beautiful  foal,  who  is  one  of  the  best. 
Flies  by  with  a  leap  and  a  bound." 

POEMS  IN  PINK 


IV 
BREEDING    HUNTERS 

THE    BEST    BREED  GENERAL    PRINCIPLES   IN    BREEDING SELECTION 

OF    SIRE   AND    DAM SUMMARY    OF    PRINCIPLES 

TREATMENT    OF    MARE    AND     FOAL 

JHOROUGHBREDS  or  thoroughbred  grades 
are  the  only  horses  whose  general  conforma- 
tion makes  them  particularly  suitable  for 
saddle  work.  First  of  all,  they  are  to  the 
manner  born,  and  their  gaits,  low  in  action,  long  in  stride, 
elastic  in  motion,  place  them  so  far  above  all  other  breeds 
of  horses  for  riding  purposes  that  they  have  no  competitors 
whatever.  Long  neck  and  low  carriage  of  head,  short 
upright  true  arm,  great  courage,  endurance,  and  superior 
intelligence  qualify  them  as  the  breed  of  all  breeds  best 
adapted  for  cross-country  work.  Unnumbered  generations 
of  careful  breeding  distinguish  them  as  the  aristocracy  of 
the  equine  race.  They  have  spirit  and  mettle,  and  indeed 
are  of  such  a  highly  strung  nervous  temperament  that  it  often 
requires  a  bit  of  horsemanship  to  get  on  with  them  ;  yet, 
when  a  rider  once  learns  to  fit  himself  to  their  ways  and 
humour  their  eccentricities,  he  is  spoiled  forever  after- 
ward for  any  other  breed  of  horses.  Thoroughbreds  are 
not  the  horses  for  the  uninitiated  ;  they  are,  as  Mr.  Thomas 

41 


42     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

Hitchcock  aptly  expresses  it,  "  horsemen's  horses."  Most 
men  who  attempt  cross-country  riding  begin  with  half- 
breeds,  and  generally  end  by  riding  nothing  less  than  seven- 
eighths  or  clean-bred  thoroughbreds. 

It  is  generally  believed  that  in  producing  half-  and  three- 
quarter-bred  horses  the  thoroughbred  blood  should  come 
from  the  sire's  side.  Some  of  the  highest  class  hunters  I 
have  ever  known,  however,  have  been  bred  the  other  way, 
the  sire's  side  supplying  the  cold  blood. 

Blue  Rock,  a  famous  hunter  and  steeplechaser,  owned 
by  Mr.  William  Littauer  of  the  Genesee  Valley  Hunt,*  is 
out  of  a  clean-bred  thoroughbred  mare  by  a  trotting-bred 
stallion.  Blue  Rock  is  a  plain-looking  horse,  but  his  dis- 
position is  faultless,  and  his  fencing  and  speed  between  the 
flags  and  his  most  perfect  performances  in  jumping  contests 
have  won  any  number  of  cups  and  prizes  for  his  owner,  who 
believes  he  is  the  best  all-round  horse  that  ever  lived.  The 
Duke  of  Beaufort,  editor  of  the  Badminton  books  on  sport, 
says :  "  I  prefer  both  sire  and  dam  to  be  well-bred,  but  a 
well-bred  mare  and  an  underbred  horse  will  produce  a  faster 
animal  than  a  thoroughbred  horse  and  an  underbred  mare." 

In  a  work  of  this  kind  there  is  room  for  only  a  few 
thoughts  on  the  subject  of  breeding,  and  we  will  content 
ourselves  with  noting  a  few  fundamentals  not  found  in  the 
usual  works  on  horse-breeding.  After  fifteen  years  of  ex- 
perience with  a  stud  consisting  of  thoroughbreds,  hackneys, 
English  and  French  coach-horses,  and  thirty  years  in  breed- 
ing cattle  and  sheep,  the  author  may  state  his  belief  in  a 
few  general  rules  of  breeding. 

*  See  page  22. 


Breeding  Hunters  43 

Prepotent  sires  may  generally  be  relied  upon  to  transmit 
their  conformation  or  external  form,  while  the  dams  more 
generally  transmit  internal  qualities,  such  as  courage,  speed, 
endurance,  and  vices.  The  characteristics  of  prepotent 
sires,  however,  are  usually  more  noticeable  in  their  daugh- 
ters, the  sons  in  this  respect  generally  resembling  their 
dams.  Again,  prepotent  sires  are  generally  found  to  trans- 
mit their  own  qualities  to  the  second  generation  through 
their  daughters,  while  the  characteristics  of  the  dams  are 
handed  down  to  the  second  generation  through  their  sons, 
as  in  this  simple  diagram  : 

Sire  son  second  generation 


Dam  daughter  second  generation 

This  seems  to  be  nature's  way  of  preserving  the  balance 
of  power  between  the  sexes.  It  will  be  observed  that  the 
above  refers  particularly  to  prepotent  sires.  There  is  little 
use  in  attempting  to  formulate  any  rules  concerning  any 
others.  Most  rules  or  theories  in  regard  to  breeding  are 
beset  with  so  many  exceptions  that  it  is  very  difficult  to 
establish  them. 

Of  one  thing,  however,  I  am  thoroughly  convinced : 
that  variations  or  abnormal  characteristics  are  received 
principally  from  the  dam  and  are  acquired  during  the  pe- 
riod of  gestation. 

We  are  always  repeating  that  old  maxim,  "  Like  produces 
like  ";  yet  this  cannot  be  strictly  true,  else  there  would  never 
have  been  variations.      All   the  different  families  of  horses 


44    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

are  undoubtedly  descendants  of  one  common  stock.  From 
the  Shetland  pony  of  three  hundredweight  to  the  mammoth 
Shire  that  tips  the  beam  at  thirty  hundredweight,  the 
pony  of  Wales,  the  Clyde  of  Scotland,  the  thoroughbred 
of  England,  and  the  trotter  of  America  —  all  have  one 
common  ancestry.  It  is  manifestly  inaccurate,  therefore, 
to  say  like  produces  like.  The  saying  may  be  true  in  a 
certain  degree  of  animals  in  a  state  of  nature,  but  certainly 
not  of  animals  under  domestication.  And  so  far  as  man  is 
responsible  for  these  variations,  we  should  like  to  know 
when  and  under  what  circumstances  he  must  act,  or  does 
act,  to  develope  them. 

These  artificial  characteristics  start  in  variations  which, 
by  careful  selecting,  breeding,  and  intelligent  feeding,  may 
in  time  become  dominant.  When  acquired  or  artificial 
characteristics  become  dominant,  then  they  may,  under 
favourable  circumstances,  be  transmittable. 

If  a  colt  is  better  suited  for  cross-country  work  than 
either  its  sire  or  its  dam  or  any  of  its  more  remote  ances- 
tors, a  variation  or  artificial  characteristic  has  been  pro- 
duced. I  firmly  believe  that,  whatever  degree  of  excellence 
an  animal  ultimately  arrives  at  above  that  of  its  ancestors, 
it  receives  the  impetus  from  its  parents.  Subsequent  care, 
feeding,  and  climatic  influences  may  develope  it,  but  cannot 
produce  it.  The  time  when  it  is  within  man's  power  to 
assist  in  the  moulding  and  fashioning  of  the  colt  must  be 
prior  to  its  birth. 

Confucius  taught  that  the  age  of  a  child  should  begin  to 
be  recorded  from  a  year  before  it  was  born.  It  is  on  this 
principle,  whether  it  has  been  recognised  or  not,  that  all 


Breeding  Hunters  45 

great  improvements  have  been  made  in  domestic  animals. 
Blackwell,  Boothe,  Bales,  the  noted  short-horn  breeders,  on 
this  principle  developed  the  great  short-horn  families  of 
cattle.  The  dairy  breeds  of  cattle  have  been  evolved  by  a 
similar  schooling  of  the  unborn  calves  for  the  greater  pro- 
duction of  milk  and  butter,  until  they  have  become  as 
proficient  in  their  way  as  have  the  great  beef-producing 
families  in  the  attainment  of  early  maturity  and  easy  fatten- 
ing qualities. 

The  standard  bred  trotter  is  an  offshoot  of  the  thorough- 
bred. The  trotting  gait  has  developed  in  the  offspring  a 
conformation  quite  different  from  that  of  the  thoroughbred, 
one  that  is  better  adapted  to  the  purpose.  Training  may 
have  developed  the  latent  force  the  animal  possessed,  but  as 
a  spring  cannot  rise  above  its  source,  neither  can  an  animal, 
after  its  birth,  rise  above  its  inherent  character.  The 
treatment  of  the  sire  before  conception,  and  especially  the 
treatment  of  the  dam  afterward,  may  elevate  it. 

Anything  you  can  do  toward  the  education  of  the  colt 
through  his  dam,  the  better.  The  dam  should  be  turned 
out  as  soon  as  possible  after  conception,  and  treated  and  fed 
in  a  way  to  relax  her  muscles ;  yet  nothing  better  can  hap- 
pen to  the  unborn  colt  than  to  have  its  dam  occasionally 
used  in  schooling  green  hunters,  say  once  a  week  or  so. 
The  best  and  most  natural  hunters  that  I  ever  raised  came 
from  mares  that  had  this  identical  training.  The  best 
driving-horse  I  ever  bred  came  from  a  mare  that  was  occa- 
sionally driven  while  carrying  her  foal.  While  carrying 
her  next  colt  by  the  same  horse,  the  mare  was  never  in 
harness,  and  the  difference  in   the  two  colts  as  they  grew 


46    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

up  was  so  pronounced  as  to  call  my  attention  particularly 
to  this  subject.  The  first  colt  was  a  decided  improvement 
on  either  sire  or  dam  as  to  harness  or  road  work,  while 
the  second  one  was  barely  up  to  and  certainly  not  beyond 
them.  The  third  colt  by  the  same  horse  was  a  better 
roadster,  but  smaller  than  either  the  first  or  second,  and  I 
attributed  this  to  my  overdoing  the  matter  in  my  desire 
to  educate  the  third  colt.  The  mare's  muscles  were  not 
relaxed  enough  to  give  the  colt  proper  room  for  develop- 
ment, and  it  never  attained  the  size  I  believe  it  would 
otherwise  have  reached. 

What  makes  a  colt  a  better  roadster  than  any  of  its 
ancestors  ?  What  power  elevates  a  foal  to  a  greater  degree 
of  proficiency  and  usefulness  in  cross-country  work  than  its 
original  stock  ?  I  believe  it  is  clearly  within  the  bounds 
of  reason,  and  to  be  demonstrated  by  any  one  with  an  op- 
portunity to  test  it,  that  it  is  owing  to  the  imprint  of  a 
desire.  If  the  sins  of  the  fathers  may  be  transmitted  to 
the  second  and  third  generation,  why  not  the  virtues  of  the 
mothers  ?  Many  mothers  have  children  that  are  reproduc- 
tions, not  of  what  they  themselves  are,  but  of  what  they 
temporarily  were  in  thoughts,  moods,  and  actions.  The 
occasional  use  of  a  brood  mare  for  a  short  cross-country  ride 
during  the  period  of  gestation  does  the  mare  no  harm,  and 
can  hardly  fail  to  imprint  upon  the  future  generation  an 
influence  for  good. 

My  personal  observation  of  this  has  been  so  striking  that 
I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  a  little  schooling  of  this  sort  may 
help  the  future  colt  more  in  the  part  he  is  to  play  in  the 
"  noble  science  "  than   months  of  schooling  after  he  is  old 


Breeding  Hunters  47 

enough  to  break.  He  may  be  expected  to  know  some 
things  intuitively  that  his  mother  had  to  be  taught,  and  to  go 
the  right  way  about  them  from  the  first.  A  variation  will 
have  been  produced,  slight  although  it  may  be.  In  Ire- 
land, in-foal-mares  are  more  often  hunted  than  in  any  other 
country,  and  where  in  the  wide  world  can  one  find  such 
natural-born  hunters  as  in  the  Emerald  Isle?  I  shall  have 
occasion  to  refer  to  some  practical  illustrations  of  this  under 
the  chapter  on  "Schooling." 

To  my  readers  who  have  never  given  thought  to  this 
particular  point  in  the  science  of  breeding  I  beg  to  offer 
encouragement  in  it.  If  they  are  wanting  in  faith,  let  me 
ask  what  proofs  they  have  that  animals  as  well  as  men  are 
not  affected  for  good  or  ill  in  embryo  ?  I  should  advise  all 
such  to  begin  their  research  by  reading  the  experiments  of 
Jacob  and  his  receipt  for  producing  spotted  cattle,  and  fol- 
low this  up  with  the  volumes  of  scientific  matter  touching 
heredity.  So  firmly  am  I  convinced  of  the  great  impor- 
tance of  this  question  that  I  believe  the  day  will  come 
when  the  best  breeders  will  recognise  it  as  a  fundamental 
principle  in  the  art  of  breeding  for  improvement. 

The  object  most  desired  in  the  breeding  of  hunters  is 
the  production  of  quality  plus  size.  It  is  no  trick  at  all  to 
turn  out  small  horses  with  quality.  Horses  of  from  fifteen 
to  fifteen  and  a  half  hands  often  have  quality  to  spare. 
The  problem  is  to  be  able  to  obtain  sixteen-hand  horses 
and  over  which  have  body  and  bone  and  substance  through- 
out in  proportion  to  their  increased  size,  and  still  retain  in 
them  the  quality  of  the  finer  and  smaller  animals.  The 
general  method  of  selecting  as  sire  the  largest  stallion  that 


48     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

can  be  found,  though  theoretically  sound,  in  practice  sel- 
dom results  satisfactorily.  Size,  with  coarseness  or  lack  of 
symmetry,  which  is  still  more  objectionable,  invariably  fol- 
lows the  mating  of  a  large  stallion  with  a  small  or  medium- 
sized  mare.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  size  with  quality  is 
invariably  attained  by  mating  a  medium-sized  stallion  with 
a  large  or  at  least  a  roomy  mare.  The  reason  of  this  is 
obvious  when  we  recall  the  fact  that  conformation  follows 
the  sire.  Mere  size  in  colts  is  more  a  question  of  room  in 
the  mare,  of  abundance  of  nutritious  food  during  the  period 
of  gestation,  and  of  a  plentiful  supply  of  milk  from  the 
dam  after  the  colt  is  born.  Of  the  two  conditions  neces- 
sary to  grow  a  colt  with  size, —  a  roomy  mare  and  feed, — 
the  former  is  perhaps  the  more  important.  The  disappoint- 
ment that  invariably  results  for  hunting  men  who  breed 
their  best  hunting  mare  to  the  best  stallion  they  can  find 
comes  from  not  understanding  this  simple  fact. 

A  mare  that  is  kept  constantly  at  work  during  the  period 
of  gestation  is  physically  incapacitated  to  produce  a  sizable 
foal,  owing  to  having  hard,  contracted,  or  unyielding 
muscles.  It  is  on  this  account  that  the  first  foals  of  mares 
accustomed  to  work  are  usually  inferior  in  size  to  the  sub- 
sequent foals.  This  should  teach  us  that  the  mare  should 
be  taken  from  work  soon  after  mating,  and  treated  in  every 
way  possible  to  relax  her  muscles.  At  the  same  time  she 
should  be  fed  liberally  on  all  the  succulent  food  she  can 
eat,  with  bran  and  crushed  oats  added  during  the  latter  half 
of  the  period.  With  a  medium-sized  stallion  of  the  high- 
est quality,  and  a  mare  made  as  roomy  as  possible,  you  may 
rely  on   feed   to   produce   the   necessary   variation   in    size. 


Breeding  Hunters  49 

With  such  a  selection  for  the  sire,  with  such  a  treatment 
of  the  dam,  with  such  liberal  feeding  of  the  colt  through 
the  dam,  it  will  not  be  the  breeder's  fiult,  to  say  the  least, 
if  the  colt  is  lacking  in  either  size  or  quality. 

The  next  thing  of  importance  is  —  after  the  colt  is 
born  —  to  feed  the  mare  with  the  one  idea  of  producing  a 
bountiful  supply  of  milk.  Although  the  colt  at  birth  may 
have  latent  the  qualities  one  desires,  one  must  remember  it 
still  remains  for  the  breeder  to  see  that  it  has  the  food  neces- 
sary to  develope  that  inheritance. 

There  is  one  other  point  I  must  not  fail  to  mention 
concerning  the  selection  of  a  stallion.  No  sire,  no  matter 
what  his  breeding  may  be,  is  worthy  of  serious  considera- 
tion unless  he  is  thoroughly  and  throughout  masculine. 
I  have  little  or  no  faith  in  these  effeminate  stallions  which, 
especially  among  our  standard  breds,  are  so  much  seen. 
I  should  look  with  suspicion  on  any  stallion  "  as  quiet  as  a 
mare,"  though  this,  in  the  estimation  of  some  men,  seems 
to  be  the  sum  total  of  excellence.  A  stallion,  to  my  mind, 
should  be  of  such  a  disposition  and  strength  and  courage  as 
would  naturally  place  him  at  the  head  of  a  herd  or  drove 
of  wild  horses.  In  the  breeding  of  all  domestic  animals, 
we  should  strive  to  seek  such  sires  as  would  come  to  the 
front  by  natural  selection,  that  we  may  work  in  harmony 
with  nature's  law,  i.e.,  "  the  survival  of  the  fittest." 

We  shall  not  attempt  now  to  follow  this  most  interesting 
question  of  breeding  further.  We  have  only  attempted  to 
touch  upon  such  points  as  practical  experience  and  observa- 
tion have  found  running  contrary  to  generally  accepted 
theories,  or  which  are  omitted  by  other  writers. 


50    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

For  the  sake  of  brevity  these  points  may  be  summa- 
rised as  follows  : 

Breed  from  a  clean-bred  thoroughbred  either  on  the 
sire's  or  dam's  side. 

Prepotent  sires  transmit  their  conformation,  or  external 
form  and  quality. 

The  dam  transmits  the  internal  qualities,  such  as  endur- 
ance and  the  vices  and  virtues. 

All  families  of  horses  have  a  common  ancestry. 

What  an  animal  is  above  its  original  parents,  that  much 
it  is  artificial. 

Like  does  not  always  produce  like. 

Variation  in  domestic  animals  is  principally  due  to  man. 

Acquired  or  artificial  characteristics,  by  selection  and 
breeding  and  feeding  become  dominant. 

Dominant  characteristics  become  transmittable. 

No  animal  can  raise  itself  above  its  inherent  level. 

Variation  or  improvement  in  characteristics  takes  place 
before  birth. 

Variations  are  transmitted  principally  from  the  dam,  and 
are  acquired  during  the  period  ot  gestation. 

The  best  time  to  begin  the  schooling  of  a  hunter  is 
before  it  is  born. 

Man's  opportunity  to  breed  for  improvement  ceases  at 
birth.      At  that  moment  the  die  is  cast. 

A  sire  of  medium  size,  thoroughly  masculine,  and  of  the 
highest  quality  throughout,  should  be  chosen ;  also  a  dam 
roomy,  or  made  as  much  so  as  possible. 

Feed  is  more  potent  than  breed  in  producing  size. 

The  best  way  to  feed  a  colt  is  through  its  dam. 


Breeding  Hunters  51 

Our  solicitude  for  the  foal  before  it  is  born  is  to  produce 
a  variation  that  will  place  it  above  the  level  of  its  parents, 
the  better  to  fit  it  for  the  one  special  purpose  in  life  for 
which  it  is  intended.  We  have  left  to  the  sire  the  task  of 
supplying  the  colt  with  the  quality  we  desire.  It  only 
remains  for  us  to  produce  size,  which,  as  we  have  shown,  is 
the  result  of  food  and  feeding  principally. 

When  the  owner  can  provide  succulent  food  and 
stables  of  sufficient  warmth,  January  is  the  best  time  for  the 
young  hopeful  to  arrive.  If  these  conditions  cannot  be 
fulfilled  the  colt  had  better  postpone  his  coming  until  there 
is  a  good  bite  of  grass.  In  either  case,  during  the  season 
before,  if  ensilage  is  not  at  hand,  a  patch  of  roots — car- 
rots or  beets  —  should  be  provided  as  a  succulent  food.  Dur- 
ing the  autumn  before,  a  patch  of  rye  should  be  sown  for  a 
soiling-crop,  to  be  followed  by  sowings  of  vetches  and  pease 
or  oats  and  pease,  so  that  by  fly-time  mare  and  foal  may  be 
put  in  a  box  during  the  daytime  with  a  liberal  feeding  of 
green  forage.  Mare  and  colt  should  be  turned  out  to  pas- 
ture during  the  night  only  ;  otherwise  one  not  only  feeds 
the  colt  through  the  mare,  but  myriads  of  flies  through  the 
colt.  Mother  and  offspring  will  thus  be  provided  with 
plenty  of  exercise,  and  if  the  stable  is  properly  ventilated, 
and  darkened  to  exclude  the  flies,  as  it  should  be,  you  will 
have  surrounded  both  matron  and  foal  with  the  very  best 
conditions  for  the  comfort  and  happiness  of  the  one  and 
the  growth  of  the  other. 

A  feeding  of  bran  with  a  few  crushed  oats  once  a  day  in 
the  stall  will  be  found  the  best  possible  investment.  The 
feed  should  be  in  a  trough  long  and  low  enough  to  enable 


5  2     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

the  foal  to  join  the  mother,  which  it  will  very  soon  learn 
to  do.  This  is  also  an  excellent  time  to  accustom  the  colt 
to  be  handled  and  later  to  be  introduced  to  the  halter. 
But  this,  as  Kipling  says,  "is  another  story."  Young 
mothers  make  much  better  milkers,  as  a  rule,  than  mares 
who  do  not  begin  breeding  until  later  in  life.  Whatever 
the  breeder  can  do  he  should  to  assist  the  mother  in  pro- 
ducing a  plentiful  supply  of  milk.  It  is  from  the  rich, 
succulent  pastures  of  Great  Britain  that  the  horses  and 
cattle  of  great  size  have  come.  The  scanty  feed  on  the 
Welsh  hills  and  mountains  has  produced  ponies.  Whatever 
you  do,  provide  soiling-crops  for  your  mare  and  foal. 

Feed  is  the  making  of  breed,  but  it  is  the  making  of 
breed  so  far  only  as  to  produce  variation  in  size.  Variation 
of  characteristics  comes,  not  from  food,  but  from  the  imprint 
of  a  desire. 

Flies  have  robbed  more  owners  of  animals  that  would 
otherwise  have  been  a  credit  to  them  as  breeders  than  any 
other  one  thing  that  can  be  mentioned.  On  this  account 
it  is  better  to  have  the  colt  come  in  January  or  in  the 
autumn,  so  as  to  have  attained  the  size  and  strength  neces- 
sary to  fight  for  his  life,  as  he  is  almost  required  to  do 
during  the  fly  season.  What  would  many  of  us  not  give 
to  have  a  colt  out  of  our  favourite  hunting  mare  that  should 
be  a  credit  to  the  mare?  How  many  thousands  have  tried 
and  failed  ?  Let  the  writer's  anxiety  to  point  out  what  he 
believes  to  be  the  cause  of  such  failures,  and  his  kindly 
interest  in  hunting  men  in  general  and  every  high-class 
hunting  mare  in  particular,  be  his  excuse  for  this  over- 
grown chapter. 


SCHOOLING    HUNTERS 


"  Nor  will  it  less  delight  th'  attentive  sage 

T'  observe  that  instinct  which  unerring  guides 
The  brutal  race,  which  mimics  reason's  lore 
And  oft  transcends," 

SOMERVILLE 


V 
SCHOOLING    HUNTERS 

THE     BEST    AGE      TO     BEGIN MOUTHING     AND     LEARNING    TO     DRIVE 

SCHOOLING    FOR    SADDLE    WORK LEARNING    TO   JUMP, 

RIGHT    WAY LEARNING    TO    JUMP,  WRONG    WAY 

rHEN  in  1880  I  moved  into  the  Genesee 
Valley  and  began  the  breeding,  rearing,  and 
schooling  of  hunters,  I  was  thoroughly  green 
at  the  business,  and  had  quite  as  much  to 
learn  of  the  colts  and  green  hunters  as  they  had  of  me. 
Twenty-odd  years  of  experience  and  observation  before  and 
after  this  have  produced  some  very  decided  notions  as  to 
the  best  methods  of  schooling  as  well  as  breeding  hunters. 
Others,  of  course,  may  have  succeeded  as  well  as  I  on  en- 
tirely different  lines,  and  as  to  the  value  of  my  system  must 
judge  for  themselves. 

We  have  shown  in  the  previous  chapter  that  a  hunter's 
education  should  begin  before  he  is  born.  If  the  in-foal- 
mare  happen  to  have  a  foal-at-foot,  a  most  excellent  oppor- 
tunity is  offered  to  give  both  colts  a  kindergarten  lesson  in 
cross-country  work.  The  foal-at-foot  will  readily  follow 
its  mother  over  a  log  or  across  a  small  ditch.  Even  if  at 
first   it  goes  around  the  log  and  steps  carefully  down   into 

55 


56     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

the  ditch  and  out  again,  it  will  discover  presently  that  it 
can  more  easily  jump  the  log  or  the  ditch  than  go  around. 
Colts  learn  with  astonishing  quickness  when  they  have 
the  example  of  their  mothers  before  them.  The  dam 
going  over  the  obstacle  first  seems  to  give  the  colt  the  best 
possible  incentive  to  follow,  and  an  incentive  in  a  colt's 
head  is  worth  half  a  dozen  stable-boys  with  half  a  dozen 
whips  at  his  heels. 

And  look  at  the  foal  ever  close  in  her  wake. 

The  young  one  is  true  to  the  breed ; 
He  judges  his  distance  and  knows  how  to  take 
Off,  just  in  the  right  place,  and  he  lands  with  a  shake 

Of  his  head  that  shows  courage  and  speed. 

It  was  purely  an  accident  that  led  me  to  the  adoption 
of  this  system.  A  young  horse  who  was  being  broken  to 
jump  not  taking  kindly  to  his  fences,  an  old  mare  in  the 
field  was  bridled  and  saddled  to  give  the  novice  a  lead. 
The  foal-at-foot  was  put  out  of  sight  in  the  barn-yard,  but 
broke  out  and  joined  her  mother  on  the  schooling-ground, 
and,  rather  than  separate  them  again,  was  allowed  to  remain. 
We  thought  the  foal  would  run  around  the  wings  of  the 
jumps  ;  but  she  would  take  no  chances  of  being  separated  a 
second  time  from  her  dam,  and  took  all  the  jumps  by  the 
mother's  side.  To  make  a  long  story  short,  the  two  colts 
thus  educated  were  the  most  natural  cross-country  horses  I 
ever  saw.  The  younger  one  especially  would,  as  a  weanling, 
jump  back  and  forth  over  the  bars  in  a  runway  of  her 
own  accord  for  the  sheer  love  of  the  sport.  This  was  the 
chance  beginning  of  a  system  of  training  that  has  been 
most   successful   in    producing   natural  jumpers,  as  well    as 


Schooling  Hunters  57 

prize-winners  at  Madison  Square  and  fairs  in  western  New 
York. 

Whyte-Melville,  in  his  work  "  Riding  Recollections," 
has  something  of  the  same  import  to  say  about  Irish  brood 
mares.  In  some  counties  of  Ireland,  he  relates,  the  brood 
mare,  with  foal-at-foot,  is  allowed  to  run  wild  over  exten- 
sive districts  and  leaps  in  leisurely  fashion  over  stone 
hedges  or  mounds  of  turned-up  sod  from  pasture  to  pasture, 
never  asking  for  a  gate.  Wherever  the  mother  goes  the 
little  one  dutifully  follows,  acquiring  instinctive  courage 
and  sagacity  that  are  afterward  to  be  the  admiration  of 
crowded  hunting-fields. 

Certain  general  principles  of  horse-lore  the  trainer  should 
always  bear  in  mind  : 

( 1 )  The  horse  is  intellectually  the  most  highly  devel- 
oped and  temperamentally  the  most  nervous  of  domestic 
animals. 

(2)  He  is  capable  of  being  trained  to  a  very  high  de- 
gree of  proficiency  in  any  direction  consistent  with  his 
environment. 

(3)  His  one  great  weakness  is  fear;  yet  he  may  come  to 
have  such  confidence  in  man  that  he  will  perform  feats  of 
daring  and  face  danger  which  under  ordinary  circumstances 
he  would  never  attempt. 

(4)  The  secret  of  successful  horse  education  is  the  de- 
velopment of  confidence,  and  anything,  therefore,  that  can 
be  done  to  strengthen  or  promote  confidence  may  be 
accounted  an  aid  to  his  education.  Similarly,  anything 
conducive  to  fear  is  a  hindrance  to  his  schooling. 

On   these  simple  fundamental  principles  "  hangs  all  the 


58     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

law."  It  is  one  thing  to  break  a  horse,  and  another  to 
educate  him.  Keep  in  mind  the  animal's  natural  timidity, 
and  seek  always  to  overcome  this  by  winning  his  confidence. 

One  of  the  most  important  things  in  the  training  of  a 
horse  is  mouthing.  The  universal  fault  with  nearly  all 
American-  and  Canadian-bred  horses  is  that  they  have  "  no 
mouths,"  the  causes  being  severe  bits,  bad  hands,  and  driving 
begun  without  a  course  of  "  mouthing." 

When  we  consider  that  all  our  commands  or  wishes  are 
communicated  to  a  horse  through  the  lines  and  the  bit  in 
his  mouth,  the  importance  of  having  a  horse  with  a  sensi- 
tive mouth  is  apparent ;  and  if  this  is  true  of  horses  in 
general,  what  shall  be  said  of  the  necessity  of  having  sensi- 
tive mouths  in  horses  that  are  to  carry  us  through  a  run  to 
hounds,  where  the  excitement  is  little  short  of  a  cavalry 
charge  on  the  field  of  battle  ?  A  person  is  supposed  to  ride 
to  hounds  for  the  pleasure  it  affords.  What  pleasure  can  a 
man  derive  from  sitting  on  a  puller  that  makes  him  work 
his  passage  from  start  to  finish  ? 

Of  all  horses,  the  most  objectionable  on  a  hunting-field 
is  first  the  puller  and  second  the  rusher  at  his  fences  —  gen- 
erally they  are  one  and  the  same  animal.  No  horse  is 
quite  fit  to  be  ridden  to  hounds  until  he  can  be  safely  rid- 
den with  a  common  ring-snaffle  bit.  Most  horses'  mouths 
have  become  so  calloused  and  deadened  to  feeling  by  severe 
usage  in  breaking  them,  and  by  bad,  heavy  hands  after- 
ward, that  nothing  short  of  a  very  severe  bit  or  curb  can 
control  them.  The  first  bit  put  into  a  colt's  mouth  had 
better  be  a  smooth  wooden  one  attached  to  the  halter  with- 
out  reins,    or   a    straight    iron    one    covered   with   leather. 


Schooling  Hunters  59 

One  hour  is  quite  long  enough  for  the  first  lessons.  After 
a  week  of  this  preliminary  bitting,  the  "  dumm  jockey  " 
and  slack  reins  may  be  added.  After  this  may  come  the 
guiding  lessons  with  long  driving-reins  run  through  the 
side-rings  of  the  dumm  jockey. 

During  the  first  driving  lessons  the  colt  should  be 
handled  on  the  barn  floor  or  some  other  small  enclosure. 
Besides  the  wooden  or  smooth  iron  bit,  place  in  his  mouth 
the  loop  of  a  cord,  the  cord  being  carried  over  the  head  or 
neck,  behind  the  ears,  down  through  the  loops,  and  on 
the  back  through  a  ring  in  the  dumm  jockey.  When  he  is 
taken  outside  he  will  be  sure  to  attempt  to  run.  Now, 
instead  of  attempting  to  restrain  him  vigorously  by  the 
reins,  bring  him  to  hand  by  the  use  of  the  cord,  which 
does  not  affect  the  part  of  the  mouth  you  wish  to  keep 
sensitive  to  the  bit. 

If  a  colt  can  be  thoroughly  broken  to  drive  and  ride 
without  impairment  of  the  sensitiveness  of  his  mouth,  we 
have  accomplished  one  of  the  most  important  feats  con- 
nected with  horse  education.  Of  course  this  takes  time, 
and  is  contrary  to  the  so-called  "  breaking  "  system,  which 
invariably  ruins  the  mouth  and  many  times  breaks  the  spirit 
and  heart  of  a  colt  before  it  has  accomplished  anything 
toward  the  animal's  education.  This  question  of  mouth- 
ing a  colt  is  much  better  understood  in  England,  and  espe- 
cially in  Ireland,  than  in  America.  We  shall  notice  this 
subject  again  in  the  chapter  on  "  Hands." 

After  the  colt  has  learned  to  rein  right  and  left  and  to 
back,  a  sack  of  bran  fastened  on  behind  the  dumm  jockey  for 
an  hour  a  day  is  a  good  thing  to  accustom  him  to  weight. 


6o    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

The  bran  may  be  substituted  by  oats,  or  still  heavier  grain, 
for  a  week  or  more,  before  a  boy  is  put  up.  The  colt 
could  no  doubt  be  mounted  much  sooner ;  but  the  slower 
way  is  best. 

Nine  colts  out  of  ten  can  be  thoroughly  broken  without 
ever  striking  them  a  blow  with  the  whip.  If  one  takes 
time,  it  is  only  in  very  rare  cases  that  the  whip  is  necessary. 
When  colts  or  horses  set  up  a  fight,  throw  them  carefully. 
There  is  nothing  that  takes  the  conceit  out  of  a  horse  like 
being  thrown.  Be  sure  he  knows  it  is  you  that  do  it,  and 
that  it  is  by  your  hand  he  is  liberated.  If  a  colt  or  horse 
absolutely  refuses  to  jump  a  fence,  it  is  usually  because  of 
fear,  and  you  should  return  to  lower  jumps  to  restore  his 
confidence  in  himself  If  the  fight  is  one  of  viciousness 
and  a  trial  for  mastery,  take  him  to  the  stable  and  throw 
him.  There  is  nothing  like  it.  But,  whatever  you  do, 
never  jerk  or  maul  him  about. 

Always  bring  a  colt  on  slowly  in  his  lessons,  and  let  the 
lessons  be  easy.  Never  in  one  lesson  ask  him  to  do  quite 
all  you  know  he  can,  and  you  will  give  him  the  idea  that 
he  can  do  anything  you  ask  him  to.  You  may  break  a 
colt  by  fear,  but  confidence  is  the  means  by  which  he  is 
educated. 

A  horse  does  not  reason,  but  he  has  a  very  highly  de- 
veloped instinct.  He  learns  by  absorption,  which  is  the 
result  of  association.  By  association,  companionship  with 
man,  his  wonderful  instinct  is  developed  to  a  degree  little 
less  effective  than  reason.  He  should  be  convinced  that 
whatever  you  do  is  right ;  that  you  are  his  best  friend. 
Never  deceive  or  disappoint  him,  and  you  will  soon  find 


Schooling  Hunters  6i 

him  looking  to  you,  believing  in  you,  and  having  faith  and 
confidence  in  all  you  do  and  say.  Wherein  lies  our 
supremacy  over  these  powerful  animals  ?  Entirely  in  their 
imagination.  As  long  as  you  can  keep  their  confidence,  a 
silken  cord  will  lead  them.  Make  them  mind  through 
fear,  and  your  only  safety  is  in  an  iron  chain. 

What  if  it  does  take  a  little  time  ?  Think  of  the  time  it 
takes  to  teach  us  men  some  of  the  simplest  things !  We 
do  not  ask  a  boy  to  do  fractions  until  he  has  had  a  lot  of 
schooling  at  easier  work.  We  know  that  it  would  dis- 
courage him  and  cause  him  to  lose  interest.  The  same 
thing  happens  when  we  rush  a  colt  on  in  his  lessons.  He 
is  confused  and  rattled,  makes  some  big  mistake,  hurts  him- 
self, becomes  frightened,  hates  the  work,  loses  confidence, 
thinks  his  trainer  a  fool,  falls  back  on  his  own  judgment, 
gets  a  thrashing,  fights  back,  gets  another,  gives  up  ex- 
hausted, and  finally  drops  to  the  level  of  a  slave.  With  no 
heart,  no  interest,  he  shirks  all  he  can,  and  is  sold  or  dies 
without  regret,  all  because  we  were  in  a  hurry.  And  there 
is  no  horse  that  more  requires  the  slow,  methodical  training 
than  the  colt  destined  to  be  a  high-class  hunter,  because, 
as  I  have  already  shown,  he  must  possess  so  many  high- 
class  qualifications. 

For  jumping,  if  you  are  to  begin  with  a  weanling,  let 
him  find  a  bar  eighteen  inches  high  obstructing  his  way  — 
one  he  can  with  effort  step  over  —  when  he  goes  to  and  from 
water,  or  a  ditch  to  jump  across  when  going  or  returning- 
from  pasture  —  one  he  can  step  down  into  at  first.  He  will 
soon  take  to  jumping  these  obstacles  as  the  easiest  way  of 
getting  over.      Do  not   make  any  of  these  jumps  anything 


62     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

like  as  high  as  you  know  the  colt  could  take.  Keep  them 
low  at  first,  so  that  he  will  not  be  flurried. 

After  a  month  your  weanling  will  have  such  perfect  con- 
fidence that  he  will  begin  to  acquire  knowledge  of  other 
things,  viz.  :  how  best  to  gather  his  hind  legs  under  him 
before  making  the  spring,  and  also  how  to  judge  the  dis- 
tances. Next  winter  the  same  jumps  can  go  a  few  inches 
higher.  He  could  jump  four  feet  if  you  asked  him,  but  do 
not  ask  him.  Whatever  you  do,  keep  the  fences  low. 
The  thing  you  wish  now  to  teach  is  not  high  jumping,  but 
confidence  to  gather  and  take  ofl^.  After  this  winter  it  is 
quite  as  well  not  to  ask  the  colt  to  jump  any  more  until 
you  begin  to  ride  him,  for  he  may  contract  bad  habits. 

I  have  little  faith  in  the  "  larking  "  system.  The  worst 
refusers  I  have  ever  seen  in  the  hunting-field  were  horses 
daily  larked  as  colts  until  they  jumped  over  six  feet.  It  is 
one  thing  for  a  colt  to  get  himself  over  a  jump,  and  quite 
another  thing  to  carry  weight  over. 

During  the  winter  in  which  he  reaches  three  years  old 
the  colt  should  be  bitted  or  mouthed  as  described  on  page 59, 
taught  to  rein  and  back,  and  be  broken  to  harness.  Toward 
spring  he  is  mounted.  The  following  summer,  when  three 
past,  his  jumping  lesson  with  a  rider  up  begins. 

A  light  snaffle-bit  is  put  on,  and  he  is  taken  out,  in  com- 
pany with  an  old  hunter,  over  a  ditch  say  two  feet  deep 
and  a  log  two  feet  high  on  the  way  to  his  exercise,  and  a 
little  higher  across  the  log  and  at  a  deeper  place  in  the 
ditch  coming  home.  The  incentive  of  returning  home 
gives  you  this  liberty.  The  colt  himself  says  all  this  is  too 
easy,  but  give  him  two  months  of  it,  nevertheless.      Make 


Schooling  Hunters  63 

him  walk  or  trot  up  to  all  the  jumps  and  drop  to  a  walk 
immediately  after.  One  desires  anything  but  a  rusher  in 
the  hunting-field.  Horses  without  confidence  in  themselves 
invariably  rush  their  fences.  With  some  horses  jumping 
never  becomes  more  than  a  sort  of  neck-or-nothing  adven- 
ture, and  half-schooled  horses,  nervous  horses,  and  fright- 
ened horses  rush.  Sometimes,  too,  it  is  because  these  con- 
ditions, one  or  all  of  them,  are  present  in  the  rider. 

Your  colt  so  far  has  never  refused.  There  comes  a 
trial  of  your  judgment  and  horsemanship  when  a  friend  or 
a  customer  rides  up  just  as  you  are  jogging  out  with  slack 
rein  and  snaffle-bit  for  the  daily  baby  jumping  exercise,  and 
the  temptation  assails  you  to  show  off  your  colt.  But  let 
your  visitor  go  home  thinking  you  are  afraid  to  put  him 
at  anything  over  three  feet.      Bide  your  time. 

Next  fall,  when  he  is  four  past,  take  him  up.  Early  in 
July  have  him  shod  and  begin  again  at  the  easy  jumps, 
sometimes  alone,  sometimes  in  company,  with  now  and 
then  a  bit  of  a  canter,  slowing  down  to  and  after  your 
fences.  If  you  can  occasionally  take  him  out  with  hounds 
when  they  are  going  for  exercise,  do  so.  Ot  course  you 
will  always  ride  him  at  his  fences  in  a  way  that  puts  reso- 
lution into  the  action.  You  settle  down  firmly  in  the 
saddle,  giving  him  to  understand  by  the  pressure  of  your 
legs  that  you  are  ready.  Of  course  you  could  go  over  such 
a  jump  without  all  this,  but  you  must  keep  in  mind  his 
future. 

When  you  settle  into  the  pigskins  with  a  grip  of  your 
legs,  it  says  to  your  colt  that  you  see  the  obstacle  and  are 
prepared  to  take  it  with  him.      You  never  have  deceived 


64     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

him.  He  believes  in  you  thoroughly,  and  takes  a  three- 
foot  jump  in  his  stride  with  as  much  confidence  as  he  did 
the  eighteen-inch  jump  when  he  was  a  weanling.  Up 
to  this  time  he  has  never  been  asked  to  jump  over  three 
feet ;  but  now  you  take  him  out,  and  on  the  way  home  you 
have  some  new  things,  say  three-feet-six.  Nothing  like 
that  stops  him  now.  You  have  jumped  him  a  thousand 
times,  and  it  always  turned  out  all  right.  At  this  point 
you  could  take  that  colt  through  half  a  run  with  hounds, 
and  the  chances  are  he  would  give  many  an  old  qualified 
hunter  a  lead  over  four  or  even  five  feet  of  timber.  He 
has  a  nice  mouth,  and  nothing  rattles  him.  He  does  not 
worry  or  pull,  knows  no  such  thing  as  refusing,  has  ab- 
solute confidence  in  his  rider,  and  can  jump,  and  does 
jump,  anything.  The  writer  has  had  many  falls,  but  after 
adopting  this  method  of  schooling  he  never  had  a  horse  go 
down  with  him  but  once.  An  equally  good  report  comes 
from  hunting  men  in  various  parts  of  the  country  who 
have  had  experience  with  hunters  similarly  trained. 

Whatever  a  trainer  feels  obliged  to  do  by  way  of  cor- 
recting a  youngster  or  a  greenhorn,  my  advice  is,  never 
punish  him  when  he  is  taking  a  lesson,  especially  not  when 
he  is  in  the  act  of  jumping.  A  colt,  if  he  is  whipped  or 
spurred  or  injured  or  even  made  uncomfortable  every  time 
he  jumps,  associates  the  act  of  jumping  with  something  that 
is  going  to  hurt  him,  and  refuses  or  rushes  it,  not  from  fear 
of  the  jump,  but  of  the  pain  he  expects  to  accompany  it. 

The  necessity  of  having  a  stable-boy  or  special  rider  that 
has  perfect  hands  and  seat  and  the  best  of  tempers  should 
be  noted.      It  is  not  too   much   to  say  that  most  faults  in 


Schooling  Hunters  65 

hunters  spring  from  the  bad  bringing  up,  bad  hands,  bad 
seat,  or  bad  temper  of  the  trainer. 

Such  is  the  right  way  to  school  hunters.  The  method 
usually  adopted  —  the  wrong  way  —  is  about  as  follows: 

A  promising  half-  or  three-quarter-bred  horse  four  or 
five  years  old  is  bought  in  Canada.  He  has  been  broken 
to  saddle,  but  knows  nothing  about  jumping.  He  arrives 
at  the  owner's  stable  after  a  day  and  a  night  in  the  train. 
The  same  day,  or  the  next  at  latest,  he  is  turned  loose  in  a 
runway  with  the  bar  at  three  feet,  refuses  it,  gets  a 
whipping,  is  chased  at  it  again  and  again,  and  finally  jumps 
it.  Then  he  is  sent  at  it  again.  Over  he  goes;  over 
again.  "  Good  !  "  The  bar  is  now  put  up  to  three  feet 
six.  Over  he  goes,  with  a  rap  on  the  shins  that  knocks 
the  feeling  out  of  his  legs.  "  That  's  all  right.  He  '11 
jump  high  next  time."  And  so  he  does.  At  it  again. 
"  Good  !  "  He  clears  the  bar  with  a  foot  to  spare.  "  He 
will  make  a  hunter;  no  mistake."  Up  goes  the  bar  to 
four  feet.  This  last  jump  rattles  the  novice.  He 
jumped  so  high  before  that  he  was  frightened  by  the 
height  he  found  himself  at.  He  begins  to  tremble,  now  it 
is  over,  at  the  mere  recollection  of  it.  "  Send  him  at  it 
again."  After  him  they  go,  whip  in  hand,  shouting  and 
yelling  enough  to  frighten  an  Indian.  In  this  next  effort 
the  poor  horse  loses  heart  at  the  last  moment,  braces  his 
feet,  slips,  and  slides  against  the  bars  shoulder-high.  The 
bars  fall  with  a  terrible  rattle  and  crash  at  his  feet. 

"  Put  them  up  again  !  Don't  let  him  go  back  to  the 
stable  without  making  him  accomplish  what  you  set  out  to 
do."      At  the  bars  goes  Novice  again,  with  a  stinging  cut 


66     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

of  the  crop.  The  poor  beast  is  frightened  nearly  out  of 
his  wits.  "Now  chase  after  him  with  your  whip.  Oh, 
horror!  The  fool  has  no  sense."  He  was  going  to  jump, 
but  lost  his  head;  his  heart  failed  him  ;  took  off  too  soon; 
struck  the  top  of  the  bar  with  such  force  as  to  send  it 
flying,  while  the  frightened  horse  came  down  on  the 
remaining  bars,  his  fore  legs  on  one  side  of  the  jump,  his 
hind  legs  on  the  other. 

Up  go  the  bars  again.  A  neighbour  who  has  been 
invited  to  see  "  the  best  horse  that  ever  came  out  of 
Canada"  is  looking  on.  The  owner  grows  angry.  "He 
has  got  to  jump  it  now,  anyway."  Meanwhile  the  poor 
horse,  with  wild  eyes  and  shaking  flanks,  is  nearly  paralysed 
with  fear.  Thus  the  punishment,  and  so-called  schooling, 
goes  on.  The  next  day,  a  boy  being  put  up,  with  a  man 
to  help  on,  the  poor  horse  jumps  simply  to  escape  the  pun- 
ishment. He  hates  the  sight  of  a  runway,  and  of  his 
master  as  well. 

See  him  in  the  hunting-field  a  month  or  two  later,  with 
wild  eyes  and  restless  air.  When  hounds  go  away  he  is  as 
if  crazy:  rushes  his  fences;  goes  on;  gets  a  thrashing  for 
refusing;  jumps  this  fence;  expects  a  thrashing  and  spurs  at 
the  next  as  a  part  of  the  programme,  but  smashes  into  it. 
For  this  he  gets  a  whack  as  he  lands.  He  grows  worse 
and  worse.  His  owner  can  hardly  hold  him  by  the  curb. 
At  the  next  fence  he  takes  off  too  soon,  landing  on  his  head 
on  the  opposite  side, while  his  rider  "goes  to  grass." 

In  how  likely  a  condition  will  this  poor  brute  be  to  be- 
come a  good  hunter  !  It  is  a  shame  that  man  has  the 
power  so  to  abuse  and  ruin  the  happiness  of  a  dumb  brute. 


!5 


o 


Schooling  Hunters  67 

Does  reason  say  we  can  ever  make  a  hunter  of  such  a 
horse  ?  We  may  make  a  jumper  of  him,  but  between  such 
a  horse  and  the  one  I  previously  described  there  is  an 
impassable  gulf.  They  are  not  to  be  mentioned  in  the 
same  class  at  all.  Look  at  the  two  horses  going  home 
after  a  run  to  hounds — one  sad,  melancholy,  unhappy; 
the  other  cheerfully  tired,  bright,  and  contented. 

Will  a  horse  schooled  by  the  system  herein  recom- 
mended never  make  a  mistake  ?  Certainly  he  will ;  but  he 
will  not  blame  his  rider  for  it.  He  is  as  eager  to  follow 
the  game  as  the  rider  is.  The  other  horse  would  stop  at 
the  first  fence  and  go  home  if  he  could.  In  one  you  have 
a  boon  companion,  in  the  other  a  poor  dumb  slave.  In 
hunting  there  is,  or  should  exist,  a  partnership  between 
rider  and  horse.  The  rider  should  make  himself  so  agree- 
able to  the  horse  that  the  horse  will  never  object  to  the 
relationship. 

A  good  hunter  is  one  that  answers  to  the  hand  readily, 
has  a  good  mouth,  does  not  rush  or  bolt  his  fences,  and  is 
not  flustered  at  other  horses  passing  or  by  the  sight  of 
hounds. 


VI 
BUYING    A    HUNTER 


"And  when  you  have  taken  the  horse  as  a  friend 
Through  trouble  and  care,  you  're  prepared  to  defend 
Him,  as  something  sent  down  from  above." 

RHYMES  IN  RED 

■  The  very  sight  of  him  malces  you  feel  all  over  like  'unting." 

JOROCKS 


VI 
BUYING    A    HUNTER 

THE     HORSE-DEALER    AND    THE    JOCKEY TWO    WAYS    OF     BUYING    A 

HORSE HOW     SOME     BUYERS    GO    ABOUT    IT THE 

MARRIAGE    CEREMONY 

HORSE-DEALER  is  generally  looked  upon 
as  a  rogue  — as  if  the  notion  prevailed  that  a 
man  can  be  honest  and  square  in  every  business 
but  that  of  dealing  in  horses.  When  Amer- 
ica was  new  there  were  what  is  known  as  horse-jockeys 
or  horse-traders,  a  profession  nowadays  confined  mostly  to 
gypsies.  It  has  come  about,  however,  that  horse-dealers 
are,  unfortunately,  too  often  confounded  with  horse-jockeys. 
I  think  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  dissatisfaction  over 
horse-dealing  is  due  to  the  buyer,  or  his  coachman,  or  a 
friend,  more  often  than  to  the  dealer.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  deception  is  rarely  all  on  the  side  of  the  dealer. 

Most  men  go  about  a  horse  deal  too  craftily.  They 
drive  up  to  a  dealer's  stables  with  a  groom,  or  a  friend,  or 
both. 

"  Just  passing,  and  thought  we  would  come  in  and  have 
a  look  at  your  horses,"  they  say.  (Deception  number  one  : 
they  came  on  purpose.)  "  Don't  want  to  buy  ;  just  look- 
ing round."      (Deception  number  two.) 

71 


7  2     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

"  Perhaps  if  you  saw  something  to  suit,  you  might  buy," 
says  the  dealer. 

"  Oh,  no  !  More  horses  than  I  know  what  to  do  with. 
Horses  to  sell  !  "  (Deception  number  three  :  they  came  on 
purpose  to  buy.) 

It  is  amusing  to  see  how  many  men  go  about  buying  a 
horse  in  this  deceptive  way,  imagining  themselves  very 
bright  and  clever.  They  seem  to  think  they  have  hit 
upon  a  new  idea  of  getting  the  best  of  the  dealer  and 
taking  him  off  his  guard.  They  will  buy  a  horse 
for  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  which,  if  the  dealer 
knew  they  wanted  it,  would  cost  three  hundred  dollars  or 
more. 

Is  the  dealer  sharp  ?  It  is  the  foolish  buyers  who  make 
him  so.  By  the  time  the  would-be  customer  has  looked 
over  two  or  three  horses  the  mask  drops  and  the  dealer 
can  read  him  like  a  primer. 

"  What  's  the  price  of  this  one  ? "  the  gentleman  asks, 
with  what  is  intended  to  be  great  unconcern.  No  answer ; — 
the  dealer  wants  to  confirm  himself  in  his  belief  that  his 
visitor  really  intends  to  buy.  The  customer  repeats  the 
question.  The  dealer  pays  no  heed,  but  says  :  "  Come  on, 
gentlemen ;  I  have  a  promising  youngster  in  this  box." 
The  horse  the  customer  has  been  inquiring  the  price  of  is 
the  horse  he  came  to  buy  ;  the  dealer  sees  that  he  has  no 
interest  whatever  in  looking  at  the  promising  youngster. 
He  calls  attention  to  still  another  horse, —  his  own  hunter, 
for  instance, —  one  he  would  not  sell.  "  There,  gentlemen, 
is  one  of  the  best  horses  I  own,  but  I  would  not  recom- 
mend any  one  to  buy  him." 


Buying  a  Hunter  73 

The  dealer  is  having  a  bit  of  fun.  His  visitors  intended 
to  be  smart,  and  he  has  to  match  them. 

"  Should  not  advise  any  one  to  buy  that  horse  ?  Why 
not  ?"  they  ask.  And  he  whispers  in  his  customer's  ear  of 
this  or  that  trifling  fault  or  defect,  until  finally  he  brings 
his  customer  round  to  saying  what  he  ought  to  have  said 
in  the  first  place  : 

"  What  do  you  ask  for  the  bay.?" 

"  Which  bay  do  you  refer  to  ?  "  asks  the  dealer,  still  de- 
termined to  bring  his  customer  to  business.  He  has  dealt 
with  all  sorts  of  horses  and  colts, —  green  ones,  mild  ones, 
crafty  ones,  and  vicious, —  and  has  never  failed  to  outgen- 
eral and  bring  them  to  his  own  way  of  thinking  without 
their  suspecting  how.  He  is  working  the  customer  in  the 
same  fashion. 

"  The  bay  in  the  box." 

"Oh!" 

Then  the  dealer  turns  squarely  to  the  buyer  and  says  : 
"  See  here  ;   do  you  want  to  buy  ?  " 

"  Well,  that  depends  upon  the  price." 

"  We  shall  not  disagree  about  that."  The  truth  is,  he 
does  not  know  what  to  ask,  since  the  groom,  up  to  this 
time,  has  not  had  a  chance  to  tell  the  dealer  how  much  he 
wants  for  himself.  "  Better  see  him  out  first,"  he  adds. 
"  I  should  like  you  to  mount  him." 

The  horse  is  taken  out  and  tried,  the  groom  meanwhile 
making  his  wants  known.  "  What  do  you  want  for  that 
horse?"  he  asks,  sotto  voce.  "I  want  four  hundred  and 
twenty-five  dollars  net,"  is  the  reply.  "Ask  five  hundred 
and  come  down  to  four  seventy-five  ;   see  ?  " 


74     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

This  is  what  takes  place  nearly  every  day  in  a  dealer's 
yard.  A  customer  tries  to  be  clever  with  the  dealer,  and 
meets  more  than  his  match.  The  groom  has  made  more 
out  of  his  employer  than  the  dealer  has. 

Presently  up  rides  customer  number  two,  the  right  sort. 

"  Good  morning,  dealer.  Look  here  ;  I  am  looking  for 
a  well-mannered  hunter- — -something  you  can  recommend. 
I  want  him  for  a  gentleman." 

Out  comes  the  bay  again. 

"  Well,  what  about  this  one,  dealer  ?  " 

And  the  dealer  proceeds  to  answer  without  exaggeration. 
The  bay  is  bred  so-and-so  ;  has  had  three  months'  school- 
ing ;  has  been  ridden  several  times  to  hounds;  pulls  a  bit 
more  than  the  dealer  likes,  but  seems  to  be  coming  to  his 
hands  nicely.  With  another  month  or  so  of  schooling  he 
should  make  a  very  good  hunter. 

"  How  much  .? "  asks  customer  number  two. 

"  Four  hundred  and  twenty-five." 

The  horse  is  tried,  liked,  and  bought. 

When  would-be  buyer  number  one  learns  from  buyer 
number  two  that  he  bought  his  horse  for  four  hundred  and 
twenty-five,  he  protests.  "  Oh,  confound  that  dealer!  He 
tried  to  sell  me  that  horse  this  morning  for  five  hundred 
dollars.  I  shall  never  patronise  him  again.  Every  horse- 
dealer  I  ever  had  anything  to  do  with  always  tried  to  get 
the  best  of  me." 

This  is  one  example  of  the  average  buyer,  the  average 
dealer  in  horses,  and  the  wrong  and  the  right  way  to  buy  a 
horse.  Don't  ask  a  dealer  if  his  horse  is  sound  and  then 
feel  for  unsoundness.      Look  him  over  carefully,  if  you  like, 


Buying  a  Hunter  75 

and  then,  if  you  wish,  ask.  the  question.  Do  not  ask 
the  age  of  a  horse  and  then  look  into  his  mouth.  Go  the 
other  way  about  it,  or  keep  away  from  any  man  whom 
you  would  suspect  of  deceiving  you.  Go  to  a  dealer  who 
has  his  reputation  to  make  or  keep,  and  go  as  straight 
about  the  bargain  as  you  would  in  buying  a  yard  of  cloth. 

An  honest  dealer,  because  his  point  of  view  is  imper- 
sonal, knows  better  than  one's  friends  what  one  wants,  pro- 
vided, that  is,  one  tells  him  just  how  much  of  a  horseman 
one  is.  It  may  be  humiliating,  but  it  is  the  best  and  only 
way.  There  is  hardly  a  man  in  the  business  that  will  not 
fit  you  out  in  this  way  with  as  much  care  as  if  you  were 
his  own  son.  If,  for  any  reason,  he  fails  the  first  time,  go 
back  and  tell  him  the  difficulty.  Most  dealers  will  take 
an  endless  amount  of  pains  with  such  a  customer,  changing 
horses  until  he  is  suited.  Go  preferably,  if  you  are  a  hunts- 
man, to  some  dealer  in  a  hunting  county.  Let  him  give 
you  a  mount  and  ride  with  you  to  learn  the  degree  of  your 
horsemanship.  If  you  are  not  sufficiently  advanced  in 
horsemanship  to  adapt  yourself  to  all  sorts  and  conditions 
of  horses,  be  sure  to  try  the  horse  yourself.  You  may  find 
a  thousand-dollar  horse  so  uncomfortable  for  you  that  he 
would  give  you  no  pleasure,  while  another  one  at  half  the 
money  would  fit  you  perfectly. 

If  you  must  take  some  one  with  you,  take  some  profes- 
sional dealer  who  knows  just  what  kind  of  horse  you 
require,  agreeing  beforehand  to  pay  him  a  certain  commis- 
sion if  you  buy.  If  you  are  buying  of  a  farmer,  beware 
lest  he  is  ignorant  in  regard  to  soundness.  He  may  tell 
you  his  unsound  horse  is  sound  simply  because  he  does  not 


76     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

know  any  better.  A  dealer,  on  the  other  hand,  is  not 
likely  to  buy  an  unsound  horse.  The  horse  you  buy  from 
him  is,  generally  speaking,  worth  all  the  difference  between 
the  farmer's  and  the  dealer's  price.  There  is  hardly  much 
advantage  in  buying  of  a  farmer  unless  you  can  give  your 
horse  the  necessary  training  yourself.  This,  indeed,  is 
much  the  better  plan  if  you  can  afford  time  and  have  skill 
and  taste  for  the  work.  A  man  could  hardly  have  a  better 
training  for  himself,  even,  than  the  personal  education  of  a 
hunter. 

Here  is  another  example  of  a  bargain  between  a  buyer 
with  a  confirmed  notion  that  allowances  must  be  made  for 
whatever  a  dealer  says  —  the  buyer,  strangely  enough,  who 
is  always  "  getting  stuck  "  —  and  the  dealer  who  can  talk 
horse,  one  of  those  fellows  whose  tongue  is  operated  on 
ball  bearings  and  has  been  plentifully  lubricated  with 
butter.  If  a  fool  is  born  every  minute,  these  two  drew 
their  first  breath  at  the  same  tick  of  the  clock. 

"  Can  he  jump  ?  "  asks  the  buyer. 

"  Jump !  Well,  you  see  that  seven-bar  stake  and  rider 
fence  ?  Well,  he  jumped  that  from  a  standstill  when  he 
was  a  weanling." 

"  Can  he  run  ?  " 

"  Run  !  Well,  I  should  say !  My  stable-boy  had  him 
down  to  the  track  the  other  day  where  there  are  a  lot  of 
thoroughbreds  in  training,  and  they  coaxed  him  into  having 
a  turn.  Well,  sir,  to  make  a  long  story  short,  he  left  the 
bunch  as  if  they  were  standing." 

"  Has  he  courage  ?  " 

"  Courage  !     Why,  bless  you,  I  do  believe  you  can  jump 


Buying  a  Hunter  77 

him  right  over  a  locomotive  engine.  He  would  try  a 
church  if  you  sent  him  at  it." 

"  Is  he  sound  ?  " 

"Well,  now,  I  want  to  tell  you  I  have  been  dealing  in 
horses  for  the  last  forty  years,  and,  really,  I  never  owned  a 
sounder  horse  in  all  my  life." 

The  buyer  here  looks  for  splints  and  curbs,  which  is  the 
extent  of  his  ability  to  judge  soundness. 

"  That  's  right,"  says  the  seller  ;  "  look  him  all  over  care- 
fully. Not  a  scratch  or  a  pimple  on  him  anywhere.  If 
you  find  one  I  will  give  him  to  you," — etc.,  without  end. 

All  I  have  to  say  is  that  if  a  buyer  is  foolish  enough  to 
patronise  such  men  or  to  be  caught  by  such  chaff  as  this,  it 
serves  him  right.  Buy  your  own  horse.  Go  alone  and 
tell  the  truth.  That  the  horse  you  buy  to-day  may  go 
lame  to-morrow,  or  take  cold  on  the  way  home  and  die  in 
a  week,  is  n't  anybody's  fault.  The  buyer  took  the  same 
chances  with  the  same  horse.  Don't  expect  a  green-silk 
umbrella  for  fifty  cents.  There  are  a  hundred  and  one 
things  likely  to  happen  to  a  horse.  Take  your  share  of 
hard  luck  when  it  comes  your  way  as  a  true  sportsman 
should.  In  the  buying  of  the  best,  the  soundest,  the  most 
perfect-mannered  horse  in  the  world,  you  gamble  on  how 
he  will  turn  out  in  your  hands. 

A  little  knowledge  is  a  dangerous  thing.  Men  who 
have  learned  a  little  about  horses  are  invariably  conceited. 
What  they  know  has  been  picked  up  by  talking  horse  at 
the  club  or  reading  some  one's  receipt  for  "  How  to  Tell  a 
Good  Horse."  These  are  among  the  men  who  are  always 
getting  stuck.     Their  bumps  of  conceit  usually  cost  them 


78     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

a  good  bit  of  money  before  they  develope  into  real  horse- 
sense  or  knowledge.  They  remind  one  of  the  boy  who, 
when  asked  how  he  was  getting  on  in  arithmetic,  replied : 
"Oh,  I  am  almost  through  studying  it.  I  have  finished 
the  *  add-ups'  ;  I  'm  now  in  the  '  take-froms '  ;  and  when  I 
learn  to  multiply  I  shall  be  all  through  with  arithmetic." 
Here  is  another  example  of  a  would-be  clever  buyer  of  a 
hunter.     This  kind  writes  a  letter  : 

New  York  City,  April  7,  1901. 
Mr.  Horse-dealer, 

Dear  Sir  :  It  occurs  to  me  that  I  should  like  to  inquire  if  you 
have  any  good  hunters  on  hand.  I  don't  know  that  I  want  to  buy, 
but  if  I  should  I  should  want  a  horse  fifteen-three  hands,  bay  with 
black  legs  and  a  star  in  the  face.  I  do  not  object  to  one  hind  foot 
being  white.  I  like  plenty  oi  3.ct\or\,  especially  knee  and  hock  action; 
short  back  with  a  long  stride ;  high  head-carriage  without  check,  and 
nice  long  pasterns.  He  must  not  be  afraid  of  anything.  If  you 
have  such  a  horse  I  might  like  to  have  him,  if  you  would  take  in 
exchange  one  I  bought  last  month  of  Blank.  Please  answer  by 
return  mail,  and  greatly  oblige 

Yours  truly, 

Richardson  Doe. 

P.S.  Please  send  photos  of  the  horses  you  have  for  me  to 
choose  from. 

It  is  amusing  to  see  one  of  these  conceited  chaps  in  a 
dealer's  stables,  looking  for  a  curb,  picking  up  a  foot, — 
usually  only  one,  on  the  nigh  side, —  glaring  into  the  horse's 
eyes  to  see  if  he  is  blind,  appearing  very  wise  after  the 
manner  of  doctors  when  they  do  not  know  what  is  the 
matter  with  their  patient,  and  asking  the  dealer:  "Is  he 
sound?"  Flattered  by  the  dealer's  "You  can  probably 
judge  better  than   I ;    I  can  always  tell  by  the  way  a  man 


Buying  a  Hunter  79 

goes  about  a  horse  if  he  is  a  good  judge,"  —  he  buys  the 
horse  without  further  question.  And  how  he  squeals  when 
he  finds  he  has  paid  five  hundred  dollars  for  a  hundred- 
dollar  screw.  He  is  deceived  again,  and  the  dealer  gets 
the  credit  for  it. 

I  repeat,  I  have  always  noticed  that  when  a  man  has  the 
courage  to  tell  a  dealer  he  knows  nothing  about  horses, 
and  depends  entirely  upon  what  the  dealer  says,  he  seldom 
has  much  fault  to  find  with  what  he  buys.  I  remember 
once  when  a  dealer  lost  the  sale  of  a  horse  because  a  little- 
knowledge  man  said  he  was  too  straight  in  the  shoulders. 
The  same  man  bought  the  same  horse  a  week  after  from 
the  same  dealer,  who  had  done  nothing  in  the  meantime 
but  dock  the  horse's  tail  and  pull  his  mane  ! 

Speaking  of  docking  reminds  me  of  a  laughable  horse 
trade  that  took  place  near  Passaic,  New  Jersey.  A  dealer 
by  the  name  of  Mahoney  came  to  town  with  a  car-load  of 
horses,  of  which  he  sold  one  to  a  sewing-machine  agent. 
When  the  dealer  arrived  in  Passaic  with  his  next  consign- 
ment, the  sewing-machine  man  came  back  to  him  declar- 
ing that  the  horse  was  unsatisfactory,  and  received  about 
half  of  the  money  he  had  originally  paid  for  him.  A  few 
days  later  his  partner  bought  a  horse  of  the  dealer.  It  was 
the  same  horse,  only  docked.  If  a  dealer  is  sharp,  it  is  the 
customer  that  makes  him  so. 

I  have  had  all  things  happen  to  my  horses  that  horse- 
flesh is  heir  to,  but  I  have  never  felt  that  I  was  cheated 
purposely  by  the  seller,  except  once.  The  idea  that  dealers 
go  about  the  country  buying  unsound,  worthless  horses,  to 
cobble  them  up,  dope  the  crazy  ones,  and  whisky  the  lazy 


8o     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

ones,  is  the  most  absurd  notion  that  ever  entered  the  public 
mind.  Yet  people  have  heard  so  much  of  this  that  they 
really  expect  to  be  cheated,  and,  if  a  horse  goes  wrong  in 
a  month,  will  say  they  only  looked  for  as  much.  It  is 
strange  what  notions  some  people  have.  They  buy  a  house 
that  burns  down,  hire  a  coachinan  who  developes  rheuma- 
tism, a  footman  who  gets  a  sore  throat,  a  servant-girl  who 
gets  married,  a  butler  who  may  die  the  week  after  he 
comes  into  the  house.  All  this,  they  say,  is  providence. 
But  if  any  of  the  thousand  and  one  things  that  are  likely  to 
overtake  a  dumb  beast  happen  within  six  weeks  or  two 
months  after  he  coines  into  their  possession,  it  is  not  provi- 
dence, but  the  dealer.      They  are  "  stuck  again." 

Tell  the  dealer  just  what  you  want  of  a  horse,  and  how 
much  experience  you  have  had  in  riding.  Tell  the  truth, 
the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth.  Tell  him, 
even,  he  may  send  ten  or  fifteen  dollars  to  your  groom  and 
add  the  same  to  your  bill.  You  may  think  your  groom  is 
too  honest  to  accept  the  fee,  but  see  that  he  has  his  tip,  or 
your  horse,  however  good,  may  never  suit,  and  there  will 
be  no  end  of  fault-finding,  until  you  give  up  in  despair  and 
tell  the  groom  to  buy  the  next  one  himself — which  is 
what  he  wanted  you  to  do. 

Neither  should  a  man  boast  of  his  riding  or  driving  to 
his  dealer.  He  may  mislead  him  into  selling  him  a  horse- 
man's horse  when  he  ought  to  have  an  amateur's  horse. 
The  buyer  may  find  he  cannot  ride  his  new  purchase  :  he 
is  a  refuser,  he  pulls,  is  irritable,  will  not  feed  after  his  run 
to  hounds.  Why  ?  Because  his  rider  has  no  hands ;  he 
balances  himself  by  holding  hard  on  his  mouth  when  he 
jumps.      The  hunter  gets  to  pulling:  the  rider  gets  his  reins 


Buying  a  Hunter  8i 

mixed,  and  pulls  on  the  curb  instead  of  the  snaffle.  His 
hunter  returns  after  a  run  in  a  state  of  nervous  prostration, 
breaking  out  in  a  cold  sweat  :  his  rider  does  not  know 
that  every  time  he  landed  he  jabbed  the  spurs  into  him. 
From  want  of  horsemanship  he  took  more  out  of  his 
mount  in  a  single  run  than  he  should  have  done  in  four  or 
five  runs  of  proper  riding.  The  trouble  was,  he  was  "  over- 
horsed."  The  man  who  sold  the  horse,  a  thorough  horse- 
man, may  have  taken  the  same  horse  through  a  harder  run 
on  the  best  of  terms,  with  sheep  twine  for  reins. 

The  buyer  says  he  has  been  deceived  ;  on  the  contrary, 
he  has  deceived  the  dealer,  who  sold  him  what  the  buyer 
gave  him  to  understand  was  wanted.  A  horse-dealer  of 
any  standing  is  just  as  eager  to  suit  as  the  buyer  is  to  be 
suited.  No  man  in  the  world  knows  better  than  the  dealer 
that  confidence  and  square  dealing  are  his  principal  stock 
in  trade. — So  the  buyer  goes  to  the  dealer  and  says : 

"  You  misrepresented  that  horse  to  me.  You  must  take 
him  back." 

"  No,"  replies  the  dealer, —  or  he  ought  to, — "  I  cannot 
furnish  brains  for  the  horse's  mount.  And  since  you  put 
it  on  the  ground  that  I  deceived  you  knowingly,  I  will  not 
take  the  horse  back.  It  would  be  acknowledging  that  I 
had  deceived  you." 

In  other  words,  again  the  buyer  has  gone  the  wrong  way 
about  it.  If  he  had  gone  about  it  in  the  right  way,  truth- 
fully, ten  to  one  the  dealer  would  have  fitted  him  out  with 
a  horse  of  his  size  —  something  he  could  pull  and  maul ; 
in  short,  some  old  stager  that  would  plod  through  a  hunt 
as  through  a  day's  work  at  the  plough. 

On   the   other   hand,  a  horse  that   will   answer  for   one 


8  2     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

hunting  country  may  be  nearly  worthless  in  another.  In 
the  Genesee  Valley,  for  instance,  where  there  is  plenty  of 
steep  hill  work  with  many  ravines  as  steep  as  a  mansard 
roof,  a  fifteen  and  a  half  to  fifteen-three  horse  is  quite  tall 
enough.  For  the  level  Meadowbrook  country,  where  they 
follow  the  drag,  which  is  only  another  name  for  steeple- 
chasing,  the  nearer  the  thoroughbred  in  size  that  can  gallop 
and  fly  the  fences,  the  better.  Mr.  Ellis,  the  Master  there, 
says:  "Take  away  speed  from  drag-hunting  and  there  is 
little  left  worth  going  out  for." 

In  selecting  a  hunter  I  should  rate  desirable  characteris- 
tics in  the  following  order:  (i)  suitability;  (2)  pedigree; 
(3)  disposition;    (4)  manners;    (5)  education;    (6)  looks. 

Some  huntsmen  may  prefer  to  put  more  stress  on  looks. 
No  one  appreciates  good  looks  in  a  hunter  better  than  the 
writer,  nor  do  I  mean  to  say  good  looks  are  attained  only 
at  the  expense  of  utility.  Education  and  manners  may  be 
cultivated.  Disposition  may  be  improved.  Pedigree  and 
suitability  are  fixed.      But  the  greatest  of  these  is  suitability. 

From  another  way  of  looking  at  it,  buying  horses  is  a 
good  deal  like  selecting  a  wife.  To  impress  upon  the 
buyer  the  responsibility  he  takes  upon  himself  and  the  risk 
he  runs  in  buying  a  horse,  it  might  be  well  to  have  some 
sort  of  marriage  ceremony.  The  ceremony  might  be 
performed  by  a  Presbyterian,  because,  for  one  thing,  the 
buyer  ought  to  endorse  the  good  old  doctrine  of  fore- 
ordination. 

The  ceremony  should  at  least  contain  the  following 
form :  "  I,  Richardson  Gibson  Doe,  being  a  man  free-born, 
of  lawful  age,  and  desirous  of  taking  unto  myself  a  partner 


Buying  a  Hunter  83 

for  the  chase,  do  hereby  select  the  bay  mare  Thistle- 
whipper  for  my  partner  in  hunting  the  wild  fox.  I  do 
most  solemnly  promise  and  swear  to  take  the  said  bay  mare 
Thistlewhipper  for  better  or  for  worse,  through  thick  and 
thin,  through  sickness,  accident,  death,  or  the  pink-eye. 
I  do  hereby  solemnly  promise  and  swear  that  I  will  provide 
the  said  bay  mare  Thistlewhipper  with  a  good  home, 
feed,  and  care,  and  at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances 
treat  her  as  I  should  wish  her  to  treat  me  if  I  were  a  horse 
and  she  were  my  owner.      So  help  me  John  Rogers." 

Here  the  buyer,  in  token  of  his  sincerity,  shall  disengage 
his  right  hand  from  the  mare's  forelock  and  kiss  the  curry- 
comb or  the  brush,  as  he  may  elect.  Then  shall  the  buyer 
face  the  seller  and  say:  "Let  me  pay."  And  the  seller 
may  say:   "  Let  me  oifer  you  a  glass  of  cider." 

Then  shall  the  buyer  hand  to  his  stud-groom  or  coachman 
a  gold  ring,  or  the  price  of  one,  wherewith  to  ensure  the 
mare  from  all  accidents  and  disorders,  barring  blind  stag- 
gers, until  it  is  necessary  that  another  should  be  bought. 
Here  endeth  the  ceremony,  and  the  buyer  may  now  go 
forth  and  proclaim  to  all  his  friends  what  a  great  bargain 
he  hath  secured  in  the  bay  mare  Thistlewhipper. 


VII 

SEAT 


"A  chosen  few 
Alone  the  sport  enjoy,  nor  droop  beneath 
Their  pleasing  toils." 

SOMERVILLE 


VII 

SEAT 

RIDING     BY     GRIP     AND     BALANCE GOOD     AND    BAD     FORM  HOW- 
TO    SIT    A    HORSE    PROPERLY RIDING    OVER 

JUMPS    BY    BALANCE 

jF  the  qualifications  that  go  to  make  a  good 
rider,  seat  is  of  fundamental  importance. 
Hands,  ease,  grace,  correct  position,  safety, 
horsemanship  —  all  depend  upon  seat.  When 
the  seat  is  perfect,  and  only  then,  can  these  things  be  per- 
fect too.  A  rider  need  not  expect  to  distinguish  himself 
beyond  his  ability,  good,  bad,  or  indifferent,  to  sit  his 
horse. 

The  perfect  seat  is  the  one  which  gives  a  rider  the  best 
hold  in  the  saddle,  with  the  least  fatigue.  There  are  two 
styles  of  riding.  One  depends  upon  balance,  and  the  other 
upon  grip  of  knees  and  thighs,  or  of  calves,  to  maintain 
equilibrium. 

Englishmen  as  a  rule  ride  by  grip,  Americans  by  balance. 
The  most  graceful  and  finished  riders  are  without  question 
those  who  ride  by  balance.  Some  writers  contend  that 
the  securest  seat  is  a  combination  of  grip  and  balance,  but 
I  fail  to  see  the  force  of  the  argument. 

87 


88     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

Riding-school  masters  —  who  in  America  are  mostly 
Englishmen  —  teach  the  grip  method,  and  it  is  owing  to 
them  that  people  are  falling  into  English  ways  of  riding  in 
America, —  especially  in  cities, —  which  is  much  to  be 
deplored.  Grip,  however  slight,  robs  the  figure  of  that 
suppleness  and  elasticity  of  motion  and  grace  of  carriage 
that  are  characteristic  of  riding  by  balance.  I  regret  to  say 
that  no  one  up  to  the  present  time  has,  to  my  knowledge, 
come  forward  outright  to  champion  riding  by  balance. 
The  tradition  of  riding  by  grip  has  probably  been  handed 
down  to  Englishmen  from  earliest  history,  and  is  only 
another  of  many  customs  that  hang  on  long  after  they 
ought  to  be  discarded. 

If  there  is  any  one  thing  about  riding  horseback  that  I 
feel  more  positive  about  than  another,  it  is  that  riding  by 
balance  is  the  only  correct  way,  the  safest,  the  most  secure, 
and  the  most  graceful  way  to  sit  a  horse.  This  will  shock 
many  of  my  English  and  not  a  few  of  my  American 
riding-school  friends  who  look  upon  themselves  as  good 
riders.  But  so  far  as  sticking  on  a  horse  is  concerned, 
their  ability  is  lessened,  as  I  shall  attempt  to  show,  by  the 
very  means  which  they  believe  gives  them  security. 

First  let  me  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  resides 
in  every  man  a  certain  power  or  instinctive  ability  operat- 
ing under  what  is  sometimes  called  the  first  law  of  nature, 
or  the  law  of  self-preservation.  It  acts  usually  indepen- 
dently of  the  mind,  and  its  processes  are  much  keener  and 
quicker  than  merely  mental  processes.  When  a  man  rises 
to  walk,  for  instance,  the  act  of  rising  is  done  with  a  more 
or  less   conscious    mental    effort.      Once    on    his    feet,    he 


Seat  89 

walks  on  without  further  thought.  Something  in  him 
takes  his  body  in  hand  and  keeps  it  upright  and  balanced 
without  mental  exertion. 

Now  two  thirds  or  rather  more  of  the  weight  of  a 
man's  body  is  above  the  hips.  He  is  really  a  more  or  less 
top-heavy  animal.  His  base  —  that  is,  when  he  is  walking 
or  standing,  his  feet  —  is  comparatively  small;  it  is,  too, 
smaller  and  farther  below  his  centre  of  gravity  when  he  is 
upright  than  when  he  is  seated  in  a  chair  or  in  the  saddle. 
When  he  walks  his  arms  swing  naturally  at  his  side  as  an 
assistance  to  the  maintenance  of  equilibrium.  If  he  at- 
tempts to  hold  his  hands  against  his  sides  —  an  action 
analogous  to  holding  his  legs  against  the  saddle  —  it 
requires  an  effort  of  mind  and  destroys  all  ease  and  grace  of 
body.  I  hold  that  it  is  no  more  essential  to  sit  a  horse 
by  grip  than  it  is  to  grip  something  with  the  hands  when 
walking.  One  can  as  well  learn  to  sit  a  horse  by  balance 
as  to  walk  by  balance. 

The  sooner  in  life  this  is  learned,  the  better.  All  writers 
advise  one  to  begin  young  by  riding  bareback  on  a  pony, 
and  this  is  quite  right,  but  not  because  it  teaches  to  hold 
on  by  grip.  The  result  is  the  very  reverse :  it  teaches  one 
to  ride  by  balance,  and  will,  if  it  is  not  spoiled  by  riding- 
school  training  later,  produce  a  perfect  seat.  That  Ameri- 
cans as  a  rule  have  most  graceful  seats  is  due  to  their  riding 
by  balance,  in  which  they  are  mostly  self-taught,  beginning 
as  farm-lads  riding  work-horses  to  and  from  pasture  bare- 
backed. 

Only  a  short  time  ago  I  was  discussing  this  question  with 
a  well-known  rider  of  the  Radnor  Hunt,  near  Philadelphia, 


go    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

In  answer  to  my  advice  to  ride  more  by  balance,  he  re- 
plied that  his  riding-school  master  had  always  told  him 
what  he  most  lacked  was  grip.  His  experience  was  only 
that  of  thousands  who  attempt  to  keep  upright  by  grip, 
coming  home  after  a  ride  to  lie  awake  half  the  night  with 
cramps  and  pains  in  their  legs,  the  result  of  distinct  and 
laboured  effort  throughout  the  ride. 

Compare  riding,  for  a  moment,  with  fencing.  When  one 
accomplished  swordsman  meets  another,  this  is  what  happens : 
his  mind  directs  him  to  place  himself  on  guard  before  his 
opponent;  but  from  the  instant  foil-play  begins,  mind  and 
reason  are  a  blank.  The  law  of  self-preservation  takes  en- 
tire control  of  the  body,  directing  every  action.  The  man 
who  tries  to  fence  or  control  his  foil  by  dictates  of  mind  is 
altogether  too  slow  in  self-defence.  Reason  is  useful  and 
necessary  to  teach  position  and  proper  form,  but  useless 
in  a  bout  for  honours.  No  man  can  become  an  accom- 
plished swordsman  or  boxer  who  does  not  give  himself  up 
to  this  law  in  self-defence.  For  the  same  reason,  no  one,  I 
believe,  can  ever  become  a  thoroughly  accomplished  rider 
who  does  not  abandon  all  attempt  to  stick  on  by  conscious 
and  deliberate  grip. 

The  argument  for  the  security  of  the  seat  by  grip  is 
weakened  by  the  fact  that  thousands  of  men  all  over  the 
United  States  are  daily  riding  by  balance.  The  self-taught 
ranchmen  and  cow-boys  on  the  Western  plains,  the  Ameri- 
can Indians,  and  hundreds  of  the  best  amateur  riders  all 
over  the  country  ride  by  balance. 

I  remember  once  complimenting  a  most  finished  rider 
on  his  seat.      "  Why,  certainly  I   ride  by  balance,"   he  re- 


Seat  9 1 

marked,  as  if  no  other  way  had  ever  occurred  to  him. 
"  Would  you  have  a  person  ride  with  one  hand  hanging  on 
to  the  pommel  of  the  saddle  ?  Gripping  with  both  legs 
against  the  Haps  of  the  saddle  amounts  to  the  same  thing." 

Riding  by  however  slight  a  grip  has  neither  theory  nor 
practical  results  to  recommend  it ;  and  it  is  passing  strange 
that  hardly  a  riding-school  teacher  and  no  writer  that  I 
have  ever  found  sees  the  matter  in  this  light.  Whyte- 
Melville,  in  his  "  Riding  Recollections,"  advocates  a  com- 
bination of  grip  and  balance.  To  depend  upon  balance, 
he  says,  "  is  to  come  home  with  a  dirty  coat ;  to  cling  wholly 
to  grip  is  to  court  as  much  fatigue  in  a  day  as  should  serve 
for  a  week."  On  another  page,  however,  he  spoils  his  argu- 
ment by  saying,  apropos  of  grace,  that  "  the  loose  and 
easy  seat  that  serves  to  sway  carelessly  with  every  motion, 
yet  can  tighten  itself  by  instinct  to  the  compression  of  a 
vice, —  the  prettiest  riders,  as  they  say  in  Ireland, —  are  prob- 
ably the  ones  whom  a  kicker  or  a  bush-jumper  would  find 
most  difficult  to  dislodge." 

It  is  a  pity  to  see  the  naturally  secure  and  graceful  seat 
of  a  self-taught  American  ruined  by  his  going  to  riding- 
school.  A  person  may  be  longer  learning  to  sit  a  horse  by 
balance  than  to  hold  on  by  grip,  but  if  he  gives  himself  up 
to  riding  by  balance,  which  is  only  another  way  of  saying 
gives  his  body  up  to  the  care  of  the  law  of  self-preservation, 
he  has  eventually  every  advantage  in  point  of  security  or 
safety  of  seat  over  the  man  who  is  holding  on  by  conscious 
grip.  When  a  person  rides  by  balance,  this  law  of  self- 
preservation,  many  times  quicker  than  thought,  looks  after 
him   just  as  it  does  when   he  is  on  his  feet  and  walking. 


g2     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

The  instant  he  is  the  least  out  of  balance,  a  muscle  con- 
tracts here  or  lengthens  there,  independently  of  mental 
effort,  to  put  his  body  back  on  its  centre.  See  two  men 
riding  at  a  fence,  one  by  balance,  one  by  grip.  At  the 
last  instant  the  horse  suddenly  refuses.  What  happens? 
The  law  of  self-preservation  keeps  the  one  man  in  his  seat, 
while  the  other,  riding  by  an  effort  of  the  mind,  instantly 
his  grip  is  loosened,  goes  to  grass. 

Should  we  never  grip  a  horse  with  our  legs?  Yes,  cer- 
tainly—  if  the  law  of  self-preservation  dictates  it.  The 
trouble  is,  we  are  afraid  in  the  beginning  to  trust  ourselves 
to  this  law. 

My  advice  to  a  beginner  is,  if  he  is  a  boy,  to  begin 
riding  bareback  on  a  pony.  If  a  man,  he  had  better  have 
the  aid  of  a  pair  of  stirrups  and  begin  practising  by  riding 
at  a  walk,  with  his  feet  as  free  of  the  irons  as  possible. 
Let  him  keep  at  this  until  he  can  trust  himself  bareback 
on  a  quiet  horse,  and  then,  still  at  bareback,  work  away  until 
he  can  sit  a  horse  at  a  trot,  a  canter,  and  at  last  jumping 
over  low  obstacles.  If  he  does  enough  of  this  he  will  come 
out  a  finished  rider.  It  may  seem  slow  and  laborious,  but 
it  is  the  shortest  cut  to  the  attainment  of  a  perfect  seat. 
If  a  person  is  a  bit  rusty  at  riding,  nothing  is  better  for 
him  than  riding  bareback  for  an  hour,  or,  if  this  is  not 
convenient,  riding  to  covert,  say,  with  the  feet  out  of,  or 
independently  of,  the  stirrup-irons. 

While  a  self-taught  rider  then  invariably  rides  by  balance 
and  is  thus  master  of  the  one  qualification  that  can  make 
him  perfect  in  all  respects,  he  may  yet  have  acquired  bad 
form.      For  instance,  he  may  ride  with  his  elbows  as  high 


'I  ■ 


(M 


C 


^     ■»      :*-      ->». 


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CO 


Seat  93 

as  his  shoulders  and  present  the  ridiculous  appearance  of 
working  his  arms  as  if  he  were  a  flying-machine  or  a  pin- 
ioned duck  going  through  the  motions  of  flight.  Again, 
he  may  thrust  his  foot  too  far  forward,  as  if  bracing  himself 
against  the  rush  of  the  wind,  or  too  far  back,  as  if  he  were 
trying  vainly  to  get  upon  his  knees.  He  may  slouch  in 
the  body  too  far  forward,  as  if  he  were  weak  in  the  back, 
or  he  may  sit  so  straight  and  stiff  as  to  suggest  his  being 
inspired  with  the  idea  that  he  is  some  great  general  about 
to  be  cast  in  bronze  for  a  public  park.  By  riding  with  too 
long  stirrup-irons  he  may  resemble  a  scarecrow  in  a  corn-field, 
or  by  having  them  needlessly  short  suggest  a  monkey  riding 
on  a  circus  horse.  Correct  form  is  that  which  gives  the  figure 
the  greatest  ease  and  grace  of  carriage  at  the  same  time  with 
the  securest  seat  and  least  fatigue.  Ease,  graceful  carriage, 
absence  of  fatigue,  come  from  unconsciousness.  The  com- 
bination must  be  natural.  Bad  form  with  unconsciousness 
is  better  than  a  position  which  is  forced  or  unnatural.* 

The  easiest  and  most  graceful  position  for  the  arms  is 
with  the  elbows  hanging  naturally  against  the  sides,  the 
upper  arm  and  the  forearm  at  right  angles  to  each  other. 
The  hands  should  nearly  meet  in  front  of  the  body  just  above 
the  lap,  and  just  high  enough  to  clear  the  pommel  of  the 
saddle,  held  naturally  with  thumbs  uppermost,  and  far 
enough  in  front  of  the  body  to  permit  free  action  of  the 
wrists  in  taking  and  giving  to  the  natural  backward  and 
forward  oscillation  of  the  bit  when  the  horse  is  in  motion. 

The  length  of  stirrup-leathers  is  a  question  much  dis- 
cussed.    The  straight  leg  —  the  forked  or  military  seat  — 

*  See  page  92. 


94     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

may  be  and  probably  is  best  for  the  most  efficient  hand- 
ling of  a  sabre,  but  no  such  position  is  necessary  in  riding 
across  country.  The  requirements  in  the  hunting-field  are 
of  another  sort.  For  taking  a  fence  the  length  of  the 
stirrup-leathers  should  enable  a  rider  standing  in  his  stirrups 
just  to  clear  the  pommel  easily  with  his  crotch, —  which 
may  be  necessary  when  the  horse  is  in  the  act  of  jumping, 
—  and  to  sit  well  back  in  his  saddle  as  the  horse  makes 
the  descent.  The  shifting  of  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the 
rider's  body,  forward  during  the  upward  spring,  and  well 
back  on  the  descent,  cannot  be  accomplished  with  long 
stirrup-leathers.  The  military  seat,  with  long  stirrup- 
leathers,  has  no  place  in  the  hunting-field,  where  there  is 
jumping  to  be  done.  We  shall  notice  this  more  fully 
when  we  speak  of  riding  by  balance  over  fences. 

The  best  position  of  the  legs,  as  of  the  arms,  is  that 
which  is  most  natural  and  at  the  same  time  gives  the 
stirrup-leathers  length  in  which  to  alter  a  rider's  position 
forward  and  backward  in  negotiating  a  jump.  Shorter 
stirrup-leathers  than  this  are  useless,  besides  impairing  the 
symmetry  and  ease  of  the  rider.  The  best  form  for  legs 
in  cross-country  riding  is  with  the  foot  turned  neither  in 
nor  out  more  than  is  perfectly  natural,  and  the  leg  from 
the  instep  to  the  knee  perpendicular  to  the  ground.  With 
the  stirrup-leather  of  proper  length,  the  hollow  of  the  legs 
between  knee  and  calf  will  then  fit  the  horse's  body  at 
the  fullest  part.  This  position  gives  the  rider's  body  the 
greatest  amount  of  sitting  surface,  erect  and  well  back  on 
the  saddle,  which  for  hunting  should  be  longer  in  the  seat 
than  for  ordinary  riding.      (See  illustration,  page  92.) 


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Seat  95 

I  am  persuaded  that  such  a  position,  such  form  for  arms, 
legs,  and  seat,  together  with  entire  dependence  on  balance, 
constitutes  a  way  of  riding  at  once  the  most  natural  and 
gracehil  and  the  most  secure.  I  never  yet  have  seen  the 
man  who,  riding  at  all  by  grip,  could  sit  down  well  into 
his  saddle  when  his  horse  was  at  a  canter.  In  this  respect 
English  riders  are  something  shocking.  At  every  stride 
of  the  horse  they  go  clear  of  their  saddles  with  from  one 
to  four  inches  of  daylight  between  their  saddles  and  them- 
selves. Except  when  a  horse  makes  some  extraordinary 
movement,  a  man  who  rides  by  balance  never  shows  the 
least  bit  of  daylight  between  himself  and  the  leather.  The 
grip  man  depends  so  much  upon  the  pressure  of  his  legs 
and  puts  so  much  of  his  weight  upon  his  stirrups  that  the 
least  jar  elevates  him  —  bump,  bump,  bump. 

There  are  doubtless  many  riders  in  England,  many 
riding-school-taught  riders  in  America  and  military-taught 
hunting  men  in  other  places,  who  are  half  or  more  than 
half  converted  to  the  idea  of  riding  by  balance,  who  often 
find  themselves  riding  in  this  way  despite  all  discipline  to 
the  contrary.  As  to  sitting  a  horse  by  balance  when  jump- 
ing a  fence,  however,  they  shy  at  this  or  refuse  to  try  it 
altogether. 

In  the  chapter  on  the  conformation  of  the  hunter,  on 
the  subject  of  shoulders,  we  had  our  say  about  centres  of 
gravity  and  the  necessity  that  the  horse  should  be  so  built 
that  in  taking  a  fence  the  rider's  centre  of  gravity  should 
come  as  nearly  as  possible  over  that  of  the  horse.  With  a 
horse  so  built  and  a  rider  so  placed,  riding  by  balance  over 
a  jump  is  not  only  a  possible  but,  in  my  opinion,  the  only 


96     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

proper  way  to  ride.  It  is  the  only  natural  way  for  both 
horse  and  rider.  For  the  horse,  the  difference  in  taking 
over  a  fence  a  rider  who  keeps  his  equilibrium  by  balance 
and  one  who  holds  on  by  grip  is  so  much  in  favour  of 
balance  that  the  grip  theory  is  completely  demolished. 

At  page  96  we  have  an  illustration  of  a  rider  who, 
riding  by  balance,  is  leaning  well  forward  while  his  mount 
makes  the  ascent.  A  line  drawn  from  the  top  of  the 
rider's  head  to  his  horse's  heels  as  they  leave  the  ground 
follows  the  centre  of  gravity  ;  the  equilibrium  of  the  rider 
is  maintained  with  ease ;  also  the  weight  on  the  horse's 
back  is  in  a  position  to  be  lifted  with  the  least  possible 
expenditure  of  strength. 

At  the  same  page  is  shown  a  rider  taking  a  fence  with  his 
body  held  in  position  by  a  grip  of  the  legs.  With  him  the 
centre  of  gravity  is  far  back  of  that  of  the  horse ;  and 
whereas  the  balance  rider  is  lifted  with  the  least  possible 
exertion,  the  grip  rider  is,  so  to  speak,  elevated  at  arm's- 
length.  In  the  one  case  the  rider,  sitting  by  balance  and 
entirely  independent  of  the  reins,  is  in  the  only  position 
where  he  can  give  to  his  mount  the  freedom  of  head  which 
is  absolutely  essential  to  perfect  performance.  In  the  other 
case  the  rider,  sitting  by  grip  and,  thanks  to  his  rigid  posi- 
tion, thrown  forcibly  backward  as  the  horse  springs,  must 
depend  on  the  reins  for  his  support. 

Can  any  one  imagine  a  more  nearly  perfect  form,  theo- 
retically and  practically,  for  man  and  beast,  than  the  bal- 
anced seat  over  a  jump,  or  one  more  uncomfortable  for  the 
man  or  more  difficult  for  the  horse  under  his  rider's  weight 
than  the  rigid  seat.?     To  those  who  think  riding  by  balance 


Seat  97 

well  enough  on  the  level  but  impracticable  for  fencing,  let 
me  say  it  is  more  essential  at  this  point  than  anywhere  else. 

Let  us  hurry  our  two  riders  on  over  a  fence  and  see 
them  safely  landed  on  the  other  side.  Directly  over  the 
fence  both  riders  assume,  for  an  instant,  the  same  position. 
This  instant  is  the  only  one,  however,  between  leaving  the 
ground  and  landing  again,  where  the  rider  by  grip  is  riding 
his  horse.  Before  that  and  after  that,  as  we  shall  presently 
show,  he  is  not  riding  but  hanging  on.  As  they  begin  the 
decline  the  man  riding  by  balance  gradually  leans  back 
until  his  centre  of  gravity  pulls  downward  in  a  line  drawn 
from  his  head  through  his  body  and  the  horse's  fore  legs. 
Can  a  better  position  be  imagined  for  the  comfort  of  the 
rider  or  for  his  safety  ?  Can  any  one  place  the  weight  of 
the  rider  in  a  position  to  be  lowered  to  the  ground  with 
less  exertion  to  the  horse  ?  What  of  our  grip  rider,  whose 
body  still  remains  in  the  same  rigid,  unyielding  position  ? 
Can  any  one  suggest  anything  he  could  do  to  make  his  posi- 
tion more  uncomfortable  for  himself  or  his  mount .?  Look 
at  page  98  and  see  our  grip  rider  descending  with  his 
horse's  head  still  in  a  vice.  Could  he  place  himself  with 
hands  and  seat  in  better  form  to  make  his  horse  turn  a 
somersault  on  landing? 

In  the  former  case  the  horse  alights  and  goes  forward  in 
the  same  smooth  stride  that  he  had  on  the  level.  In  the 
latter,  being  thrown  out  of  balance  by  the  rider  sitting  out 
of  balance,  he  has  to  put  forth  as  much  muscular  exertion 
to  land  his  rider  as  he  had  to  lift  him.  It  is  not  too  much 
to  estimate  that  the  one  horse  can  take  a  hundred  and 
seventy-five   pounds    over    a    four-foot-six    fence  with   less 


98     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

exertion  than  the  other  would  need  to  carry  over  a  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  pounds. 

And  whatever  the  difference  may  be  in  theory,  it  is  even 
greater  in  practice.  When  we  consider  that  by  balance 
the  horse  himself  must  negotiate  a  fence,  and  how  little  a 
thing  upsets  even  a  man  on  his  feet,  the  trial  it  must  be  to 
a  horse  to  jump  with  a  weight  on  his  back  all  out  of  bal- 
ance from  start  to  finish  is  apparent.  The  wonder  is  that 
one  does  not  see  half  a  dozen  falls  in  the  hunting-field 
where  there  is  but  one.  Drag  huntsmen  will  hardly 
appreciate  this  discourse  on  jumping,  for  they  take  their 
fences  as  they  take  their  ditches,  flying.  But  to  men  in 
timber  countries  it  must  be  apparent,  we  repeat,  that  the 
only  one  way  to  ride  a  horse  and  do  it  properly  is  by 
balance. 

The  crying  need  in  riding-schools  is  some  teaching  of 
sitting  a  horse  naturally.  "  Buffalo  Bill's  "  exhibition  in  Eng- 
land was  a  revelation  as  far  as  seat  was  concerned.  There 
is  no  country  in  the  world  where  they  do  so  much  horse- 
back riding  as  in  England,  but  nowhere  can  you  find  such 
bad  seats.  If  you  wish  to  see  how  not  to  ride,  and  a  fine 
example  of  grip  riding,  pay  a  visit  to  Hyde  Park.  It  is 
bump  and  co-chunk,  with  from  four  to  six  inches  of  day- 
light between  their  saddles  and  nineteen  riders  out  of 
twenty,  the  horses  cantering  at  that.     Grip  does  it. 


Oh 


o 
U 


VIII 
HANDS 


"  Who  tugged  at  his  horse  and  held  on  to  his  head 
With  hands  like  a  vice  as  if  loaded  with  lead. 
I  saw  at  one  glance  that  he  was  not  the  kind 
To  blend  with  the  horse  both  in  body  and  mind." 

POEMS  IN  PINK 


VIII 
HANDS 

pullers:  how  they  are  made — proper  position  of  hands  — 

HOW    to    hold    the    reins HANDS    WHEN    JUMPING 

Y  good  "  hands "  is  meant  that  sensitiveness 
of  touch  in  the  manipulation  of  the  reins 
which  pulls  not  an  ounce  more  than  is  actu- 
ally needful.  It  is  an  axiom  of  the  hunting- 
field  that  "  Pulling  hands  make  pulling  horses,"  or  "  A 
dull  hand  makes  a  dull  mouth." 

"  I  never  pull  at  my  horse's  mouth,"  says  a  friend  of 
mine,  "  but  all  my  horses  are  pullers.  I  don't  under- 
stand it." 

The  trouble  with  my  friend  is  that  he  is  dull  of  touch. 
When  he  shakes  hands  with  you  he  nearly  crushes  your 
bones,  yet  he  is  entirely  unconscious  of  doing  so.  I  have 
often  remonstrated  with  him,  but,  I  fear,  to  no  purpose. 
Ladies  shun  him  rather  than  endure  the  ordeal  of  a  grip 
of  his  unfeeling  paw. 

Touch  is  a  question  as  much  for  horsemen  as  for 
pianists,  and  almost  as  difficult  to  attain  in  perfection 
by  one  as  by  the  other.  In  horsemanship  we  can 
learn   from    the    lady   rider  a   most  valuable    lesson.      Her 


I02     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

hand  is  acknowledged  everywhere  among  hunting  men  as 
being  lighter  and  more  sensitive  of  touch  than  a  man's. 
Sensitiveness  of  touch  is  a  gift,  yet  probably  can  be  culti- 
vated and  improved  to  some  extent.  More  profit  is  to  be 
derived  from  giving  our  attention  to  the  causes  —  bad  hands 
and  pulling  horses,  which  invariably  "hunt  in  couples"  — 
to  which  its  lack  is  due. 

The  most  fruitful  source  of  bad  hands  is  an  incorrect 
position  in  holding  the  reins.  It  is  a  point  susceptible  of 
the  greatest  improvement.  The  proper  position  of  the 
arms  and  hands  is  illustrated  at  page  92  ;  the  wrong  way 
at  page  104.  In  the  right  way  notice  that  the  arm  from 
the  shoulder  to  the  elbow  is  perpendicular,  the  forearm  at 
right  angles  to  the  upper,  and  that  the  hands  are  well  in  the 
lap  of  the  rider,  so  that  there  is  no  weight  whatever  on 
the  reins.  The  wrist  is  pliable  to  every  step  or  stride  of 
the  mount.  The  correct  position  has  been  attained.  A 
glance  at  page  1 04,  which  illustrates  the  wrong  way  of  hold- 
ing the  reins,  will  show  that  with  the  elbows  forward  and 
the  forearm  in  line  with  the  reins  or  parallel  to  the  direc- 
tion in  which  the  horse  is  moving,  the  weight  of  the  hands 
and  arms  rests  against  the  horse's  mouth.  This  weight, 
moreover,  is  increased  in  proportion  as  the  elbow  is  held 
forward  of  the  perpendicular.  In  holding  the  reins  with 
the  arms  extended,  one  causes  all  the  give  and  take  of  the 
reins  to  come  from  the  shoulder.  The  whole  arm  instead 
of  the  wrist  must  be  moved,  or,  as  is  usually  the  case,  re- 
main rigid.  This  position  of  the  hands  is  a  constant  dead 
weight  against  the  horse's  mouth.  The  rider  is  entirely 
unconscious  of  pulHng  the  horse's  mouth.      He  is  not  pull- 


Hands  103 

ing  in  the  sense  that  he  is  making  a  distinct  muscular 
effort  to  do  so.  But  he  invariably  acquires  the  habit,  when 
reaching  his  hands  well  forward,  of  resting  the  weight  of 
his  hands  and  arms  on  the  horse's  mouth.  This  irritates 
the  horse,  who  either  refuses  to  go  up  to  his  bit  or  begins 
to  pull.  A  horse  pulls,  as  does  the  rider,  from  one  of  two 
causes :  either  because  his  mouth  has  been  so  deadened  or 
calloused  as  to  be  no  longer  sensitive,  or  because  he  is  being 
pulled.  The  former  comes  from  improper  bitting  and 
breaking  ;  the  latter  from  the  fact  that  beyond  a  certain 
pressure  the  harder  he  pulls  the  less  pain  he  feels,  the  circu- 
lation being  cut  off  and  the  nerves  deadened.  Thus  it 
comes  about  that  pulling  hands  make  pulling  horses. 

This  question  of  hands  is  much  better  understood  in 
England  than  in  America.  The  English  are  as  superior  to 
the  Americans  in  hands  as  the  Americans  are  superior  to 
the  English  in  seat.  In  England  you  will  everywhere  see 
good  hands  —  farm-lads,  butchers'  boys,  cabmen.  Good 
hands  in  England  are  the  rule,  while  with  us  they  are 
quite  the  exception.  The  great  majority  of  horses  in 
America  have  had  their  mouths  injured  or  spoiled  altogether 
by  heavy,  unyielding  hands. 

The  American  and  the  English  styles  of  holding  the 
reins  are  illustrated  at  page  104.  The  American  style  is  the 
result  of  copying  the  jockeys  in  driving  trotting  horses,  a 
style  of  hands  which  may  be  well  enough  for  track  work 
but  is  manifestly  wrong  for  ordinary  riding  or  driving. 
The  same  sort  of  thing  is  noticeable  in  American  har- 
nesses. Trotting  horsemen  use  an  overdraw-check  in 
order  to  extend  their  horses'  noses,  for  the  purpose  of  giv- 


I04    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

ing  them  the  greatest  freedom  in  breathing  by  making  a 
straighter  air-passage  from  the  nostrils  to  the  lungs.  This 
style  of  harness  may  enable  a  horse  to  do  a  mile  in  several 
seconds  less  time  than  he  could  accomplish  it  in  if  the  har- 
ness had  an  ordinary  bearing-rein,  or  even  no  check  at  all, 
and,  so  far  as  speed  is  concerned,  the  overdraw  has  its 
legitimate  use.  It  has,  however,  like  the  jockey's  style  of 
holding  the  reins,  become  almost  universal.  You  can 
hardly  find  in  a  harness-shop  in  America  a  breast-collar 
harness  that  has  not  the  overdraw-check  on  the  bridle. 
It  is  seen  everywhere,  among  farmers  and  among  livery- 
men, and  from  it  Americans  have  copied  a  style  of  holding 
the  reins  that  results  in  the  worst  possible  position  of  the 
hands  for  ordinary  riding  and  driving ;  and  the  very  best 
that  could  be  adopted  for  making  pullers.  There  is  no 
room  for  doubt  in  the  matter  —  the  one  great  drawback 
to  American  horsemanship  is  bad  hands ;  the  nation  is  in 
this  respect  just  about  as  bad  as  it  could  be  made :  yet  it  is 
the  one  thing  needed  to  make  Americans  the  most  finished 
riders  in  the  world. 

And  good  as  the  English  riders  and  drivers  are  in  hands, 
the  Irish  horsemen  take  the  prize  from  them.  The  Irish 
are  simply  perfection.  They  ride  with  a  light  Pelham  bit, 
which  is  simply  a  curb-bit  without  a  snaffle.  It  is  a  very 
severe  bit,  but  with  their  masterly  hands  they  leave  it  severely 
alone.  By  this  same  token  I  should  think  it  an  excellent 
thing  tor  any  one  who  wished  to  cultivate  good  hands  to 
practise  riding  with  curb-lines.  The  consciousness  of 
the  bit's  being  so  severe  would  make  one  very  careful  how 
he  took   hold   of  it.      A   bit    like  this  in  a   tender  mouth 


1.   Hands  ill  driving,  correct. 

3.  Shortening  girths  while  mounted. 


2.   Incorrect. 

i)..  Twisting  stirrup-leathers. 


Hands  105 

would  soon  teach  a  man  to  let  it  alone.  But  of  course, 
before  he  should  attempt  it,  his  seat  should  be  so  perfect  as 
to  be  independent  of  the  reins  for  support  under  all  cir- 
cumstances. "  Handle  your  reins,"  says  one  authority, 
"  as  if  they  were  silk  threads  and  liable  to  break."  This 
is  good  advice,  but  it  cannot  very  well  be  put  into  practice 
unless  the  hands  are  in  their  proper  position,  as  illustrated 
at  page  114,  and  if  the  seat  is  not  perfect.  If  one 
wishes  to  demonstrate  how  much  of  a  dead  weight  there  is 
against  a  horse's  mouth  when  the  rider's  elbows  are  ex- 
tended and  the  forearm  is  straight,  let  him  attach  a  weight 
to  a  pair  of  reins  and  take  hold  of  them  with  hands  ex- 
tended, American  style  ;  let  him  keep  adding  to  the  weight 
until  the  weight  of  his  hands  and  arms  is  balanced,  then 
take  the  reins  in  his  one  hand  as  illustrated  by  the  Eng- 
lish style,  and  note  the  difference. 

It  is  very  discouraging  sometimes  to  undertake  to  make 
over  a  puller.  When  you  begin  to  think  you  are  making 
progress,  something  upsets  your  work  and  he  gives  you 
another  day  of  it  in  spite  of  all  that  you  can  do.  From  a 
rusher  over  his  fences  and  a  puller  between  them,  good 
Lord  deliver  us  !  Such  a  horse  not  only  tires  his  rider  but 
exhausts  himself  to  no  purpose.  We  have  shown  in  the 
chapter  on  horsemanship  how  essential  it  is  to  be  on  good 
terms  with  one's  horse,  but  no  one  can  possibly  accomplish 
this  when  there  is  a  fight  going  on  all  the  time  between 
himself  and  his  mount. 

A  horse  pulls  from  two  causes  —  dulness  of  feeling,  or  to 
ease  pain.  In  the  first  case  the  chances  of  recovery  are 
generally   hopeless.      When,  however,    the   pulling    begins 


io6    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

after  you  have  been  riding  a  way  and  increases  as  you  go 
on,  you  may  know  it  is  to  relieve  pain,  and  by  that  same 
sign  that  the  fault  is  with  yourself.  In  the  first  case  there 
is  little  you  can  do  except  to  drop  the  bit  well  down  in  a 
new  place  and  make  the  best  you  can  of  the  situation.  In 
the  latter  case,  as  the  fault  is  principally  with  your  riding, 
it  is  simply  a  question  of  cultivating  your  hands.  If  it  is  a 
congenital  want  of  sensitiveness  of  touch,  I  do  not  know  of 
any  help.  If  it  comes,  as  it  usually  does,  from  a  faulty 
position  of  the  hands,  the  remedy  is  with  yourself. 

The  habit  of  pulling,  in  a  great  many  cases,  comes  from 
a  bad  or  improper  seat  when  negotiating  a  jump.  I  have 
already  called  attention  to  this  point  in  the  chapter  on 
"Seat."  The  reason  a  horse  gets  to  pulling,  or  rushing 
his  fences, —  except  in  cases  of  funk  on  the  part  of  horse 
or  rider, —  is  that  when  a  man  sits  rigid  and  is  obliged 
to  catch  at  the  bridle-reins  for  support  he  punishes  the 
horse's  mouth  so  severely  that  the  moment  his  feet  touch 
the  ground,  away  he  rushes  as  if  he  had  had  as  severe  a  jab 
with  the  spurs  as  he  actually  has  had  in  the  mouth.  When 
a  horse  has  been  ridden  over  a  few  fences  in  this  style,  he 
associates  that  awful  jab  in  the  mouth  with  the  act  of 
jumping.  He  knows  as  he  approaches  a  fence  that  there 
will  be  a  pull  at  his  head  enough  to  extract  a  tooth,  and 
he  naturally  rushes  to  get  over  the  agony  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible or  refuses  the  jump  altogether.  Nor  is  this  all. 
When  he  gets  within  eight  or  ten  strides  of  his  fence  he 
goes  at  it  with  two  or  three  times  the  amount  of  force 
required  to  clear  the  obstacle,  all  of  which  is  only  so  much 
more  energy  consumed  to  no  purpose.     So  matters  go  on 


Hands  107 

from  bad  to  worse  until  the  horse  becomes  a  confirmed 
puller. 

I  repeat,  if  you  cannot  sit  a  horse  over  timber  without 
catching  hold  of  his  mouth  to  support  your  body,  you  can 
assure  yourself  that  you  are  not  qualified  to  ride  a  good 
horse  across  country  to  hounds,  and  that  the  fault  is  with 
your  seat  more  than  with  your  hands.  I  may  be  pardoned 
for  repeating  again  that  the  most  important  of  all  things  in 
cross-country  riding  is  to  give  your  horse  perfect  freedom 
and  liberty  of  his  head  when  negotiating  a  fence,  especially 
timber.  If  you  have  so  ridden  him  as  in  no  way  to 
hamper  his  movements,  except  so  far  as  your  weight  is 
concerned,  and  he  makes  a  mistake,  it  is  not  your  fault. 
And  do    not  deceive  yourself:   a   horse  knows  enough   to 

place  the  blame  where  it  belongs.      Mr.  ,  one  of  the 

best  English  authorities,  says  that  nine  falls  out  of  ten  in 
the  hunting-field  are  the  fault  of  the  rider,  and  I  think  he 
is  not  far  astray  in  his  reckoning.  A  friend  of  mine  tells 
me :  "  You  might  say,  what  would  be  perfectly  true,  that 
nine  men  out  of  ten  would  fall  ofl^  if  deprived  of  their 
reins." 

It  is  said  of  the  great  Atherton  Smith  that  when  he 
came  to  a  very  bad  jump,  rather  than  have  any  question  of 
whose  fault  it  was,  his  or  his  horse's,  if  they  went  to  grass, 
he  would  throw  the  reins  down  on  the  horse's  neck  and 
say:  "Now,  then,  look  out  for  yourself!"  That  is  the 
principle  on  which  one  should  strive  to  make  every  jump. 

I  confess  it  is  much  easier  to  tell  how  all  these  things 
ought  to  be  done  than  it  is  to  do  them.  Perfect  form  in 
all  respects  in  riding  to  hounds  is  rarely  seen  in  one  man. 


io8     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

and  I  am  conscious  of  not  being  an  exception  to  the  rule. 
One  thing,  however,  is  certain  :  if  we  know  how  it  ought 
to  be  done,  we  can  forever  keep  trying,  for  one  never  is  too 
old  to  learn. 

I  fancy  some  of  my  readers  by  this  time  are  asking  if  I 
mean  to  say  that  a  horse  ridden  with  hands  in  the  proper 
position  will  never  pull.  He  may,  of  course;  but  you  at 
least  know  that  so  far  as  in  you  lies  it  is  not  your  fault. 
He  may  pull  for  ambition's  sake,  or  desire  to  go  through 
timber  faster  than  is  safe,  or  faster  over  soft  ground  than 
you,  husbanding  his  staying  powers,  care  to  have  him. 
Perhaps  he  is  inclined  to  be  a  little  hot  at  his  fences 
because  he  is  more  than  half  a  funker.  Then  take  him  by 
the  head  as  sharply  as  may  be  necessary,  but  the  instant  he 
answers  your  pull,  let  up.  Never  keep  a  dead  pull  against 
a  horse's  mouth.  It  is  better  to  shift  the  bit  from  side  to 
side.  If  you  keep  on  pulling  long  enough  you  will  deaden 
sensation  and  develope  a  real,  not  a  temporary,  puller. 
After  all,  how  is  a  horse  to  associate  slackening  his  pace 
with  the  slackening  of  your  pull  if  you  pull  all  the  time? 
No  horse  is  made  a  puller  by  being  taken  up  short  the 
instant  he  begins  to  take  liberties.  The  steady  dead  pull 
on  the  flat,  the  jab  in  his  mouth  at  his  jump,  are  what  do 
the  mischief. 

I  cannot  agree  with  the  notion  prevalent  among 
hunting  men  that  hands  are  a  gift,  which,  if  a  person  is  not 
born  with  it,  he  can  never  attain,  however  hard  he  may  try. 
I  grant  this  if  it  is  a  mere  question  of  sensitiveness  of  touch, 
but  not  if  it  comes,  as  I  believe  it  generally  does  come, 
from   a  faulty  position  of  the  hands.      In  contending  this 


Hands  109 

point    I    may    be    pardoned    for    again    making  a  personal 
allusion. 

When  I  began  riding  to  hounds,  with  no  qualifications 
whatever  except  seat, —  which  I  had  acquired  riding  farm- 
horses,  colts,  and  an  Indian  pony  bareback  when  I  was  quite 
young, —  I  soon  discovered  that  every  horse  I  rode  to 
hounds  took  to  pulling.  I  was  indebted  to  Mr.  Thomas 
Hitchcock,  Jr.,  for  my  first  lesson  in  holding  the  reins, 
which,  needless  to  say,  had  been — in  the  beginning  —  after 
the  usual  American  style.  This  was  the  sportsmanlike  way 
in  which  he  went  about  it.  Instead  of  taking  me  to 
account  personally,  he  read  a  lecture  to  one  of  his  grooms 
one  day  in  my  presence  on  the  shocking  bad  hands  he  had 
—  which  were,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  an  exact  reproduction  of 
my  own  style  of  holding  the  reins.  Mr.  Hitchcock  next 
showed  him  how  to  hold  them  properly,  and  gave  the 
reasons.  It  was  a  lecture  from  the  shoulder,  and  I  remem- 
ber feeling  rather  sorry  for  the  groom,  until  I  remarked 
that  he  was  taking  it  all  in  with  something  of  a  knowing 
smile  on  his  face.  That  Mr.  Hitchcock  was  never  heard 
to  correct  a  man  in  the  presence  of  other  people,  and  that 
the  groom  in  question  had  been  with  him  several  years, 
came  to  my  knowledge  later;  but  the  lesson  had  the  desired 
effect.  It  was  my  first  lesson,  and,  as  I  look  back  upon  it, 
I  think  the  most  important  lesson  I  have  ever  had.  I  men- 
tion it  to  show  that  I  have  reason  to  know  whereof  I  speak 
in  comparing  English  and  American  styles  of  holding  the 
reins. 

A  year  or  so  later  a  very  practical  demonstration  of  hands 
was  given  to  me  when  I   learned  to  drive  four  and  tandem. 


iio     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

I  had  hastily  bought  a  very  wonderful  "goer,"  which  was 
driven  to  a  railway-station  for  my  inspection  while  the 
train  stopped.  Upon  the  completion  oi  the  purchase  I  sent 
my  man  for  him,  and  he  came  into  my  yard,  after  his  drive 
of  fourteen  miles,  with  the  lines  wound  about  his  hands, 
and  declaring  he  had  pulled  himself  and  the  wagon  every 
step  of  the  way  from  Pearl  Creek,  that  the  traces  had  not 
been  taut  once,  and  that  the  "britchen"  was  tight  nearly 
all  the  way.  I  had  bought  the  horse  for  a  tandem  leader, 
but  he  was,  as  the  groom  said,  an  awful  puller.  Now  it 
so  happened  that  the  order  to  the  stables  had  been 
confused  and  the  puller  put  in  the  lead.  We  started. 
Imagine  our  surprise  when,  instead  of  developing  his  usual 
pulling  qualities  as  the  distance  increased,  our  puller-leader 
quit  them  altogether,  and  that  before  the  end  of  the  first 
drive.  We  kept  him  at  it  for  a  few  weeks,  and  he  never 
pulled  after  that  in  any  harness.  He  proved  to  be  the 
most  perfect  horse  in  the  lead  I  ever  drove.  Since  this 
episode  the  first  thing  I  do  with  pullers  or  heavy-mouthed 
horses  is  to  put  them  through  this  tandem  school,  and  it 
has  never  failed  to  benefit  them  greatly  and  in  most  cases  to 
produce  a  virtual  cure.  Many  a  horse  that  pulls  when  at 
the  wheel  will  go  beautifully  in  the  lead.  I  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  say  there  is  nothing  better  for  a  heavy-mouthed 
horse  than  to  be  put  in  the  lead  tandem,  and  nothing  better 
for  a  man  with  heavy  hands  than  to  practise  tandem- 
driving. 

There  is,  further,  in  all  this  an  important  lesson  ;  namely, 
that  in  breaking  colts  to  drive  we  should  use  long  reins. 
Length  of  rein   in  riding  certainly  adds  materially  to  the 


Hands 


111 


ease  of  handling  the  bit,  though  I  should  not  go  so  far  as 
to  say,  as  many  do,  that  ladies,  by  merely  sitting  farther  back, 
on  their  horses,  and  having  correspondingly  longer  reins  than 
men,  owe  to  this  alone  the  wonderful  superiority  of  their 
hands  over  men's.  We  may  discuss  this  point  further 
under  the  chapter  devoted  to  "  The  Lady  Rider." 

In  general,  riding  with  loose  or  slack  reins  is  not  only 
bad  form  but  is  bad  in  theory  and  in  practice.  The  reins 
should  be  so  held  as  always  to  maintain  a  slight  touch  of 
the  bit  —  no  more  if  you  can  help  it,  and  never  any  less. 
If  a  person  is  sensitive  enough  of  touch  and  will  allow  his 
wrists  to  give  and  take  to  the  oscillation  of  the  horse's 
head  motion,  he  will  be  able  to  keep  on  the  bit  that  most 
desirable,  even,  steady  pressure  that  best  suits  a  horse  and 
gives  to  the  rider  the  invaluable  distinction  of  possessing 
good  hands.  An  excuse  may  be  granted  for  riding  a  hard- 
mouthed  horse  with  tight  reins,  but  there  is  no  excuse 
whatever  for  riding  any  horse  with  a  slack  rein.  Slack- 
rein  riding  gets  a  horse  into  slovenly  ways  of  going.  By  a 
continual  touch  upon  the  bit,  however,  a  horse  may  be 
guided  to  the  right  or  left  by  an  almost  imperceptible 
touch  of  the  reins. 

Hands  are  never  a  less  important  point  than  they  are  in 
jumping.  Turn  a  horse  loose  in  a  runway  and  observe  how 
he  handles  his  head  in  taking  a  jump.  First  he  slackens  his 
pace  for  the  last  stride  or  two,  as  do  deer  and  cattle  and 
dogs  before  they  spring.  Then  he  throws  his  head  up 
instinctively  with  the  lifting  of  his  fore  legs,  higher  than  it 
is  naturally  carried,  and  after  the  obstacle  is  cleared,  or 
while  he  is  clearing  it,  brings  his  head  down  again  and  then 


112     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

up  as  his  fore  feet  land.  These  motions  of  the  head  and 
neck  must  assist  wonderfully  in  making  the  jumps,  for  they 
show,  for  one  thing,  that  the  horse  uses  this  throw  of  the 
head  and  neck  to  assist  him  in  preserving  his  balance.  The 
necessity  of  giving  a  horse  his  head  when  he  is  jumping  is 
obvious,  and  to  be  able  to  do  this  requires  two  things: 
first,  a  perfect  seat,  and  second,  a  rider  that  sits  his  horse 
by  balance.  If  the  rider  cannot  take  a  fence  with  his 
horse  without  steadying  the  weight  of  his  body  against  the 
horse's  mouth,  he  may  know  by  this  sign  that  he  conies 
short  of  the  requirements. 

As  a  horse,  when  brought  to  his  jump  in  a  deliberate  way, 
begins  to  lift  his  fore  legs  from  the  ground,  all  the  rider 
has  to  do  is  to  lean  well  forward  and  drop  his  hands  until 
the  reins  are  slack,*  then  lean  back  on  the  decline  of  the 
jump  and  take  his  horse  well  in  hand  as  he  strides  away  on 
the  level.  The  great  trouble  with  many  of  us  is  that  we 
cannot  let  the  reins  alone,  having  the  absurd  idea  that  in 
some  way  we  must  assist  our  mount  to  rise  or  to  land.  The 
practice  of  catching  hold  of  a  horse's  head  by  a  pull  on  the 
reins  as  he  begins  to  rise  at  a  jump,  with  the  idea  of  lifting 
him,  is  one  of  the  most  absurd  notions  that  ever  entered  the 
mind  of  a  cross-country  rider.  It  is  a  practice  that  is  alto- 
gether too  common.  Whyte-Melville,  to  quote  again  his 
valuable  work  "Riding  Recollections,"  tells  of  a  celebrated 
Yorkshireman  who  used  to  say  :  "  Every  horse  is  a  hunter 
if  you  don't  throw  him  down  [at  his  jumps]  with  the  bridle." 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  every  one  who  rides  by  balance 
can  ride  a  horse   through    a  stiff  run   in  a   rough    timber 

*  See  page  96. 


Hands  113 

country  and  never  need  the  friendly  aid  of  a  pull  on  the 
reins  or  a  grip  with  the  legs  to  assist  him  in  keeping  his 
balance.  He  will  need  them,  certainly,  but  only  as  the  law 
of  self-preservation  directs.  There  are  a  great  many  ifs  in 
the  way  of  attaining  perfection  in  cross-country  riding,  be- 
cause the  requirements  of  horse  and  rider  are  so  various. 
Perfection  is  rarely  found  in  either  man  or  beast.  We 
find  horses  that  will  stop  if  you  slacken  the  reins  as  they  are 
about  to  spring :  they  have  so  long  been  ridden  over  fences 
with  the  rider's  weight  on  their  mouths  that  when  they 
are  given  their  heads  they  think  something  has  happened. 
Long  custom  has  taught  them  to  expect  it,  and  if  it  does 
not  come  it  is  as  likely  as  not  to  throw  them  out  of  gear, 
and  the  rider  out  of  the  saddle  at  the  same  time.  What 
then  ?  Why,  ride  the  horse  as  he  wants  to  be  ridden. 
That  is  horsemanship. 

The  standard  of  excellence  for  horse  and  rider  is  so 
high,  and,  as  I  say,  the  requirements  are  so  numerous,  that 
no  matter  how  great  our  experience  has  been,  there  will 
always  be  something  to  strive  for,  something  to  learn.  This 
is  the  great  charm  of  hunting ;  it  is  a  science  within  a 
science.  If  it  were  to  be  mastered  quickly  or  easily  the 
zest  for  it  would  not  have  persisted  all  these  years.  It  is 
like  billiards,  or  fencing :  you  never  do  so  well  at  either 
but  that  you  know  you  might  have  done  better. 

Let  not  the  novice  be  discouraged,  however;  the  best 
that  the  best  can  do  is  to  set  before  himself  a  standard  of 
perfection,  and  work  and  delve  and  strive  to  attain  it.  The 
game  is  pursued  with  increasing  interest  only  by  the  men 
who  strive  in  this  persistent  way  to  master  it. 


114    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

As  to  holding  the  reins  in  the  hand  or  hands,  there  are 
numerous  ways.  Two  of  these  ways,  at  least,  are  good,  and 
both  have  strong  advocates.  The  proper  way  of  holding 
single  and  double  reins  is  shown  on  the  facing  page.  The 
way  to  carry  the  crop,  and  the  way  of  changing  reins  from 
two  hands  to  one  are  also  shown.  In  handling  the  four 
reins  in  one  hand  the  curb-reins  are  in  the  middle,  the  off  or 
right-hand  rein  under  the  forefinger,  the  nigh  or  left-hand 
rein  under  the  little  finger.  They  are  thus  easily  sorted, 
shortened,  or  lengthened. 


aa    3 
c     o 

■'^   Q 


bD 


C      c 
O      o 


M     Ml  J2 


u  u 


c     o 


IX 

JUMPING    FENCES,   DITCHES,   AND    WATER 


"  But  where  was  the  gemman  in  pink 

Who  swore  at  his  tail  we  should  look  ? 
Not  in  the  next  parish,  I  think. 
For  he  never  got  over  the  brook." 

HUNTING  SONG 


IX 
JUMPING    FENCES,    DITCHES,    AND    WATER 

THE    RIDER HIS    MANAGEMENT    OF    HIS    HORSE SPEED    AT 

TIMBER    AND    WATER 

rE   have  taken    note   of  the  schooHng  of  the 
horse  in  going  over  fences  ;   we  must   now 
pay    our    attention    to     the    rider,     and     to 
the  ways  in  which,  by  proper  management, 
he  can  help  his  mount. 

To  begin  with,  a  horse  should  be  brought  to  his  fences 
well  in  hand,  with  hocks  well  under  him;  for  nothing  is 
more  certain  than  that  the  shorter  the  horse's  stride  when 
Hearing  the  fence,  the  more  power  he  can  make  use  of  in 
the  spring.  It  is  self-evident  that  if  your  horse  is  going  at 
a  fence  full  speed  in  an  extended  gallop,  he  will  not  have 
his  hind  legs  under  him  long  enough  to  use  the  contract 
force  of  his  muscles  to  their  greatest  advantage  ;  his  momen- 
tum will  be  too  great.      (See  page  1 18.) 

"Fast  at  water,  slow  at  timber,"  is  the  rule;  but  I 
believe  more  horses  go  into  than  over  water  by  too  much 
speed.  Besides,  a  horse  at  full  stride  will  only  occasion- 
ally reach  the  take-off  bank  just  at  the  right  spot.  My 
experience  is  that  the  injunction  to  be  fast  at  water  needs 

117 


ii8     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

qualifying.  That  more  impetus  is  required  to  make  a 
broad  than  a  high  jump,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose ;  but  a 
too  long  or  a  too  fast  start  is  as  apt  to  defeat  one's  ends  as 
going  too  slow  is.  If  a  horse  has  speed  and  impetus  enough 
to  carry  him  over  say  twenty  feet  of  water,  as  no  doubt  he 
has  when  racing  at  it  full  speed,  the  trouble  may  be,  never- 
theless, that  although  he  has  only  to  lift  his  feet  and  let 
the  momentum  do  the  rest,  he  feels  that  his  muscular  force 
has  been  spent  in  running.  He  has  not  enough  left,  or 
cannot  collect  what  he  has  forcibly  enough,  and  so  refuses 
or  drops  aimlessly  into  the  middle  of  the  stream.  If,  on 
the  contrary,  he  had  but  taken  a  shorter  stride,  he  might 
have  cleared  it.  Any  one  who  has  practised  broad  jump- 
ing will  know  exactly  what  I  mean  by  this  particular  diffi- 
culty. There  is  such  a  thing  as  going  back  too  far  and 
coming  at  the  water  too  fast  when  one  could  have  done 
quite  as  well  perhaps  from  a  standstill.  There  must  always 
be  a  reserve  force  in  your  horse  for  the  spring.  When  a 
horse  is  brought  up  to  within  three  or  four  strides  of  the 
obstacle,  well  in  hand,  he  can  better  judge  his  distance, 
whether  over  a  fence  or  across  a  bit  of  water. 

There  is  also  at  least  one  exception  to  the  rule  that  one 
should  go  slow  at  timber ;  when,  namely,  there  is  a  ditch 
on  the  opposite  side. 

In  "  Forty-five  Years  of  Sport  "  James  Henry  Corballis 
says  :  "  A  horse  can  jump  bigger  and  better  when  ridden  at 
a  moderate  pace.  I  have  trained  many  of  my  horses,"  he 
continues,  "  to  jump  so  big  from  a  stand  that  they  couid 
accomplish  fences  which  were  impossible  to  fly  ;  and  in  a 
close,  cramped   country   such    training   is  most   invaluable. 


Fast  at  timber,  too  extended. 


\Y\^^ 


^^'*'<, 


Slow  at  timber,  hocks  well  under. 


Jumping  Fences,  Ditches,  and  Water      119 

The  late  Mr.  Leonard  Morrogh,  a  well-known  Master  of 
the  '  Ward,'  trained  most  of  his  horses  to  jump  the  most 
ugly  and  impossible-looking  fences  from  a  stand,  and  thus 
even  at  the  end  of  a  long  run  his  horses  were,  compara- 
tively speaking,  fresh.  I  took  a  hint  from  Mr.  Morrogh's 
system,  and  in  like  manner  trained  my  own  horses,  and  pro- 
duced many  a  slow-jumping  '  wonder,'  and  in  consequence 
saw  the  end  of  many  a  twenty-five-mile  run." 

Nearly  any  horse,  if  he  is  given  time  to  collect  himself 
and  is  not  distracted  by  whip  and  spur,  will,  if  properly 
trained,  know  how  best  to  take  off  and  land  safely.  It  is 
astonishing  how  easily  a  horse  will  negotiate  a  most  diffi- 
cult jump  if  there  is  nothing  to  interfere  with  the  free  use 
of  his  legs,  head,  or  neck,  and  if  the  weight  on  his  back  is 
properly  adjusted. 

It  is  equally  surprising  what  a  little  thing  upsets  him 
when  he  is  deprived  of  any  part  of  this  freedom.  If  you 
doubt  this,  try  a  few  jumps  yourself  naturally,  and  then 
unnaturally  hampered  in  some  way.  You  will  find  that 
the  least  deviation  from  the  natural  way  is  a  very  great 
handicap  to  your  making  either  a  high  or  a  broad  jump 
successfully. 


X 

SPURS 


'■'■  One  spur  in  the  head  is  worth  a  dozen  in  the  heel." 

"Pompous  encumbrance!     A  magnificence 
Useless,  vexatious!" 

SOMERVILLE 


X 

SPURS 

THEIR    USE    AND    ABUSE RELICS    OF   BARBARISM 

NE  spur  in  the  head  of  either  rider  or  mount 
is  worth  a  dozen  in  the  heels  when  chasing 
the  fox.  I  confess  I  have  a  decided  preju- 
dice against  the  use  of  spurs,  except  as  an  or- 
nament to  a  well-fitting  boot.  They  have,  I  believe,  done 
ten  times  as  much  harm  as  good.  They  are  used  a  hun- 
dred times  uselessly  to  once  of  real  necessity. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  it  will  be  readily  understood  to  fol- 
low from  the  system  of  training  and  schooling  herein 
advised  that  the  spur  is  a  useless  instrument.  My  idea,  as 
I  explained  in  the  chapter  on  Schooling  Hunters,  is  that 
nothing  whatever  should  be  done  to  flurry,  distract,  or 
annoy  a  horse  in  the  act  of  jumping,  much  less  to  injure 
him,  because  he  thus  associates  injury  or  annoyance  with  his 
jumps,  and  dreads  them  or  refuses  altogether.  The  more 
you  spur  or  whip,  the  more  you  will  have  to.  The  prin- 
ciple is  wrong  and  thoroughly  inconsistent  with  the  proper 
education  of  a  hunter.  The  spur  or  the  whip  is  a  stimu- 
lant, and,  like  liquor,  the  more  it  is  indulged  in,  the  more 

the  need  of  it  is  felt.     A  horse  can  be  driven  through  a  run 

123 


124     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

and  made  to  jump  with  wicked  rowels  piercing  his  flanks, 
there  is  no  doubt ;  but  this  is  not  horsemanship :  it  is  tor- 
ture. We  should  abhor  the  thought  of  thumb-screws  or 
the  lash  to  force  a  man  to  any  dreaded  task,  but  we  do  not 
hesitate,  some  of  us,  to  rowel  the  sides  of  a  horse  until  he  is 
in  a  state  bordering  on  frenzy.  He  jumps  as  a  man  would 
jump  from  a  third-storey  window  with  a  fire  behind  him. 
Do  we  never  stop  to  think  of  the  state  of  mind  a  horse  must 
be  in  who  fears  to  jump  a  fence  and  hesitates  until  the 
terror  of  punishment  overbalances  even  the  dread  he  feels 
for  the  jump  ?  That  his  fear  —  in  your  mind  —  is  ground- 
less does  not  lessen  the  terror  in  his  own  mind.  Spurring 
or  whipping  would  not  lessen  a  child's  fear  of  "  the  dark." 
Confidence  learned  by  degrees,  however,  may.  What  horses 
need,  too,  is  confidence,  not  spurs.  What  we  need  ourselves 
is  confidence  in  ourselves,  not  stimulants.  Confidence  of 
horse  and  rider  in  themselves  and  in  each  other  —  any- 
thing you  can  do  to  promote  this  will  make  both  parties  to 
the  partnership  more  proficient  in  cross-country  work. 
Anything  you  do  to  your  horse,  and  anything  your  horse 
does  to  you,  whatever  it  may  be,  in  whatever  form  it  may 
be  done,  that  tends  to  destroy  this  confidence,  that  much  is 
being  done  toward  defeating  the  end  in  view.  At  the  har- 
row or  in  harness  you  may  use  a  horse  for  the  sole  end  in 
view,  as  you  would  a  machine;  but  hunting,  as  I  have  said, 
is  a  partnership  affair.  The  more  intimate  the  association 
between  rider  and  horse,  the  better  must  be  the  results. 

No  one  can  estimate  the  difi^erence  between  riding  a 
horse  to  hounds  whose  heart  is  in  the  game  and  whose  spur  is 
therefore  in  his  own  head,  and  one  who  goes  through  the  mo- 


Spurs  125 

tions  like  a  slave,  and  has  to  be  rowelled  over  the  fences  and 
quilted  between  them.  That  some  men  regard  their  horses 
as  nothing  more  than  machines  on  which  to  "  get  there  " 
is  apparent  to  any  casual  observer.  The  abuse  of  the  spur 
in  the  hunting-field  has  left  a  bloody  trail  over  the  other- 
wise clean  record  of  many  a  sportsman.  I  believe  that 
spurs  are  wholly  unnecessary  to  a  hunter  if  they  are  never 
used  to  begin  with.  You  may  get  a  horse  over  a  jump 
with  them,  but  the  after-effects  are  as  bad  as  spurring  your- 
self on  with  whisky.  It  is  the  abuse  of  both  that  I  am 
speaking  of.  The  actual  necessity  occurs  probably  once  in 
fifty  times,  but  from  this  once  riders  get  into  the  habit  of 
using  them  indiscriminately.  If  a  horse  will  not  go  through 
a  run  without  this  tormenter  working  in  his  flanks,  one 
may  know  he  is  not  a  true  sportsman  or  has  not  had  proper 
schooling,  and  had  better  go  back  to  the  trainer  or  be  sent 
to  the  harrow  where  he  belongs. 

"Shall  I  never  wear  spurs  ? "   I  am  asked. 

Yes,  if  you  never  use  them. 

"But  shall  I  never  have  occasion  to  use  them?" 

I  cannot  prophesy  for  any  one's  future.  I  have  ridden 
to  hounds  more  or  less  for  the  past  twenty  years,  and  never 
used  them  since  my  first  two  or  three  seasons.  A  touch  of 
the  crop  or  cutting  whip  is  quite  enough. 

Custom  seems  to  have  dulled  our  sensitiveness  to  the 
inhumanity  of  spurs.  If  we  stop  to  think,  how  horrible  it 
is  to  see  a  comrade  thrown  over  his  horse's  head,  leaving  a 
trail  of  blood  on  his  horse's  neck  from  the  saddle  to  his  ears! 
Who  has  not  turned  aside  rather  than  see  the  sharp  rowels 
of  a  spur  ploughing  across  the  loins  of  a  horse  that   has 


126    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

refused  a  fence  ?  Who  has  not  felt  more  sorry  for  the 
horse  than  for  the  rider  when  both  have  fallen  ?  The  side 
of  the  horse  is  marked  with  a  great  clot  of  blood.  A  hun- 
dred times  the  spur  is  used  for  the  once  that  it  ought  to  be. 
A  hundred  times  it  is  used  by  accident  or  unintentionally  for 
every  occasion  when  it  is  necessary.  How  many  times  has 
one  seen  riders,  in  going  through  woods,  stab  their  mounts 
in  the  side  as  their  legs  are  bumped  against  trees  or  saplings, 
or  again  when  they  duck  their  heads  to  clear  a  limb !  Is 
it  any  wonder  that  some  horses  hate  hunting,  and  cringe 
and  shiver  when  the  groom  hands  them  over  to  the 
tormenter  ? 

Many  of  us  fail  to  appreciate  what  a  gulf  separates  the 
horse  who  hunts  with  an  incentive  in  his  own  head  from  the 
one  who  is  driven  on  by  pricks  and  stings.  They  are  as 
wide  apart  as  love  and  hate.  Let  me  admonish  you,  my 
novice  reader,  whatever  you  do,  take  your  mount  into  the 
game  on  equal  footing  with  yourself.  You  may  not  always 
think  alike.  You  must  expect  to  be  annoyed,  discomforted, 
and  perplexed.  But  keep  this  in  mind :  you  are  the  part- 
ner, with  your  greater  degree  of  intelligence,  from  whom 
must  be  expected  the  greater  degree  of  forbearance. 
Superior  horsemanship,  let  me  repeat,  is  distinguished  from 
inferior  horsemanship  by  ability  to  adapt  one's  self  to  the 
horse.  It  is  only  novices  or  the  uncultivated  in  horseman- 
ship who  insist  on  making  horses  conform  to  their  ways. 

"  What  !  "  some  one  protests,  "  would  you  put  yourself 
on  a  level  with  the  brutes  ?  " 

Precisely.  It  is  impossible  for  "  the  brute  "  to  move  to 
your    exalted    state    of   intelligence.      Seek,    therefore,    to 


o 

"5 


a, 


o 

tn 

O 


Spurs  127 

mould  and  fashion  his  actions  to  your  way  of  thinking  by 
association  and  by  example. 

A  horse  learns  by  absorption,  by  companionship,  not  by 
reason  ;  and  as  his  sense  of  intuition  is  many  times  keener 
than  a  man's,  one  will  be  surprised  to  notice  how  quick  and 
clever  he  is  at  divining  his  rider's  thoughts  and  wishes. 
The  man's  is  the  master  mind,  and  if  he  is  a  genuine  sports- 
man in  all  things  he  will  in  no  way  seek  to  take  advantage 
of  his  less  fortunate  companion.  A  man  is  affected  by  the 
company  he  keeps.  A  horse  is  so  affected,  too,  only  a  great 
deal  more  so,  because  intuition  is  the  keenest  of  all  his 
faculties. 

Let  your  greater  strength  of  mind  direct  his  greater 
strength  of  body.  Place  yourself  in  the  attitude  toward 
him  that  will  best  enable  his  keener  instinct  to  acquire  con- 
fidence in  you.  Thus  he  will  learn  to  lean  on  you,  respect 
you,  consult  your  wishes,  have  faith  in  all  you  say  and  do. 
This  once  accomplished,  every  day's  sport  together  only 
cements  that  indescribable  bond  of  friendship  which  is  yours 
for  the  cultivation,  and  makes  a  day  to  hounds  one  of  the 
most  enjoyable  things  in  life.  This  sympathetic  bond  of 
friendship  is  what  makes  English  riders  the  keenest  cross- 
country men  in  the  world,  and  it  is  itself  easily  explained 
by  their  natural  love  for  animals.  Without  this  compan- 
ionship between  rider  and  mount  in  England  fox-hunting 
would  never  have  come  to  be  what  it  is ;  it  is  the  very 
essence  of  the  game. 

The  spur  is  a  relic  of  barbarism.  Here  is  an  ancient 
prescription  for  its  effective  use  from  "  Records  of  the 
Chase  "  by  Cecil.      It  is  given  as  a  quotation  from  a  very 


128     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

old  work  on  hunting,  "  believed  to  have  been  written  by 
a  son  of  Edward  III  in  the  fourteenth  century  "  : 


FOR    DEFY    OF   THE    SPUR 

Take  and  shave  him  [the  horse]  the  breadth  of  a  saucer  on  both 

sides  there  as  you  will  spur  him  ;  then  take  a  lancet  and  make  six 
issues  through  the  skin  the  length  of  a  wheat  corn,  and  then  take 
a  haundelere  and  raise  the  skin  from  the  flesh  and  then  put  in  a 
quantity  of  burned  salt,  and  this  will  make  the  sides  to  wrankle, 
and  keep  him  three  days  that  he  be  not  ridden  and  then  set  on  him 
with  spurs  and  spur  him  in  that  place ;  and  then  at  night  wash  that 
same  place  with  urine  &  salt  and  nettles  sodden  therewith  and 
this  shall  grieve  him  sore  that  he  will  never  abide  spurs  after ;  then 
take  half  a  pint  of  honey  and  anoint  his  sides  therewith  three  times 
and  this  shall  make  the  hair  to  grow  and  make  him  whole  for 
evermore. 

If  you  must  wear  spurs,  wear  them  without  rowels,  and 
use  them  only  as  a  last  resort.  If  you  find  yourself,  like 
most  riders,  using  them  unconsciously  in  the  excitement  of 
the  chase,  or  accidentally  when  jumping,  leave  them  at  home. 
If  your  experience  is  at  all  like  mine,  you  will  say  your 
horse  is  a  far  better,  far  bolder,  far  safer  jumper  without 
them  than  he  was  with  them. 

They  are  necessary,  in  military  riding,  to  make  a  horse 
dress,  or  go  sidewise  to  the  right  or  left ;  but  beyond  this 
they  are  of  little  value  even  to  the  cavalryman.  In  flat 
races  they  simply  contract  a  horse's  stride,  and  have  lost 
more  races  than  they  ever  won. 


XI 

DRESS 


"  Buckskin  's  the  only  wear  fit  for  the  saddle; 

Hats  for  Hyde  Park,  but  a  cap  for  the  chase; 
In  tops  of  black  leather  let  fishermen  paddle, 
The  calves  of  a  fox-hunter  white  ones  encase." 

"A    WORD    ERE    WE    START,"    EGERTON    WARBURTON 


XI 

DRESS 

THE     ETIQITETTE     OF    THE     HUNTING-FIELD THE     OVER-DRESSED 

THE     UNDER-DRESSED THE     SWELL 

/HE  laws  of  dress  for  the  hunting-field  are 
governed  by  an  unwritten  code.  When  the 
hunting-coat  is  of  pink,  then  white  hunting- 
breeches,  top-boots,  and  a  silk  hat  are  requisite. 
Otherwise  a  grey  or  dark  melton,  with  or  without  tops, 
breeches  of  any  suitable  cloth,  and  a  derby  or  square-crowned 
derby  hat  —  but  never  the  velvet  cap,  unless  you  are  an 
officer  or  servant  of  the  hunt  —  are  necessary.  Do  not  dress 
better  than  you  ride.  Over-dress  marks  the  swell  and  the 
novice,  and  is  decidedly  vulgar.  At  the  same  time  you 
should  be  thoroughly  well  dressed  and  especially  well 
groomed,  keeping  rather  to  the  practical  and  the  utilitarian, 
as  if  you  were  out  for  business,  not  display.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  equally  poor  taste  to  go  to  the  other  extreme 
and  ride  in  shirt-sleeves  or  without  a  hat.  Such  dress,  or 
undress,  may  be  suitable  for  road  riding,  for  exercise,  or  for 
polo,  but  it  is  hardly  showing  proper  respect  to  the  Master 
to  present  yourself  in  such  attire  in  the  hunting-field,  espe- 
cially when  it  is  a  regular  meet.      On  a  by-day  a  little  more 


132     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

liberty  may  be  taken.  You  had  better  keep  to  the  safe 
side,  and  always  be  well  within  the  limits  of  what  the  Mas- 
ter, by  his  example,  may  prescribe. 

The  hunting-coat  should  have  elastics  in  the  sleeves  to 
shut  out  the  wind.  Wear  a  woollen  shirt  and  a  stock  tie ; 
the  wool  absorbs  perspiration  and  prevents  discomfort. 

Pink  is  seldom  worn  in  America,  except  at  hunt  balls. 

As  no  well-regulated  family  is  quite  complete  without 
a  black  sheep,  so  no  hunt  club  is  quite  complete  without  a 
swell;  and  to  write  a  book  on  hunting  and  not  include 
this  interesting  specimen  would  be  a  considerable  omission. 
Here  he  comes  now,  fresh  from  his  valet,  who  is  likewise 
fresh  from  the  tailor.  You  feel  like  betting  ten  to  one  the 
clothes  he  wears  are  not  paid  for;  but  no  matter:  he  had  to 
do  it.  In  fact,  it  was  the  sight  of  the  latest  hunting  fash- 
ion-plate that  decided  him  to  take  to  hunting.  His  appear- 
ance gives  a  deal  of  harmless  amusement  to  the  other 
members.  He  has  choked  himself  with  a  stock,  and  wears 
a  corset,  or  looks  as  if  he  did,  in  his  wasp-waisted  hunting- 
coat.  He  wears  number  seven  patent-leather  boots  on  a 
number  eight  foot.  What  an  unhappy,  uncomfortable 
person  he  looks  !  How  can  he  be  otherwise  with  boots 
too  small,  coat  too  snug,  stock  too  tight,  and  his  horse  a 
long-legged,  light-waisted,  three-cornered  animal  of  the 
weedy  thoroughbred  order?  Altogether  he  resembles  a 
gaudy  rider  in  the  show-ring.  He  is,  indeed,  out  to  show 
off.  After  a  good  pull  or  two  of  jumping-powder  from  a 
gold-mounted  flask,  he  is  quite  fit  to  make  a  spectacle 
of  himself.  He  generally  gets  a  damning  from  the 
Master,    either    mentally    or    orally,    for    riding    too  near 


Dress  133 

his  hounds,  and  seems  utterly  regardless  of  any  rule  of 
hunting. 

"  Hold  hard,  there  !  "  shouts  the  Master.  "  Can't  you  see 
vou  are  driving  the  hounds  off  their  noses  ?  Hold  hard, 
I  say !  " 

"  I  wish,"  he  adds  mentally,  "  you  and  all  your  kind 
would  take  yourselves  out  of  the  hunt,  and  stay  out.  You 
do  not  know  the  meaning  of  sport.  You  are  a  hindrance 
and  a  dead-weight  in  any  hunting-field.  For  rocking-chair 
hunting  at  the  club  or  as  an  ornament  at  the  hunt  ball  you 
do  very  well,  but  as  a  hunting  man,  never  !  " 

These,  or  words  to  this  effect,  every  hunting  man  has 
heard  the  Master  say  until  he  knows  them  by  heart. 


XII 

FALLS 


"  Rouse  ye,  my  bonny  steed,  neatly  collecting 
All  your  strong  quarters  for  a  spring; 
Thoughts  of  the  danger  our  senses  inflicting, 

Life  may  depend  upon  your  stride  and  your  swing." 

RHYMES    IN   RED 


XII 
FALLS 

THE      ART     OF      FALLING LEARNING     TO      FALL BAROMETER      OF 

FEAR FALLS     NOT    THE     HORSe's     FAULT 

(HE  art  of  falling  may  be  considered  as  a 
necessary  accomplishment  in  riding  to  hounds. 
Nothing  will  advance  a  novice  further  in  the 
"  noble  science  "  than  a  few  harmless  falls. 
It  is  a  singular  thing  that  a  man  never  begins  to  ride  until 
he  has  been  dumped  over  his  horse's  head.  From  that 
moment  he  becomes  a  rider,  whereas  before  he  was  only  a 
timid  hanger-on,  or  so  hampered  by  the  dread  of  falling 
that  he  could  not  ride.  He  finds  it  is  not  half  so  bad  as  he 
had  imagined.  It  benefits  him  in  his  hands  and  seat,  and, 
indeed,  in  every  way. 

There  is  a  knack  about  falling,  as  there  is  about  swimming. 
No  one  can  tell  a  beginner  how  to  fall :  he  must  learn  by 
experience.  The  great  thing  for  the  novice  is  to  have  had 
enough  practice  in  riding  to  save  him  from  losing  his  head, 
and  then  to  get  spilt  often  enough  to  acquire  the  necessary 
schooling. 

The  first  few  times  the  novice  goes  to  grass  his  mind 
becomes   a   blank ;    his   head    literally   is   lost.       The   mo- 

>j7 


138     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

ment  he  finds  himself  going,  fear  takes  such  a  hold  upon 
him  that  he  is  in  a  state  of  catalepsy,  and  goes  through  the 
air  and  lands  in  a  heap  like  a  dead  man.  Even  the  law  of 
self-preservation  is  gone.  Contact  with  the  earth,  how- 
ever, brings  him  to  himself.  Some  one  catches  his  horse, 
and  he  gets  up  again,  none  the  worse  for  wear.  From  that 
moment  he  is  an  altered  man.  So  far  from  a  course  of  falls 
making  him  more  timid  than  ever,  he  has  gained — sup- 
posing he  is  not  altogether  unacquainted  with  riding  —  a 
great  increase  of  courage  when  they  are  done.  He  rides 
more  easily,  more  gracefully.  His  coat,  for  a  few  times, 
may  look  of  the  earth  earthy,  his  breeches  of  the  grass 
grassy,  but  the  dread  and  horror  of  being  thrown  are  left 
behind. 

The  learner's  tuition  by  means  of  a  series  of  falls  follows 
a  more  or  less  regular  course.  After  the  first  few  tumbles 
he  realises,  with  varying  degrees  of  surprise  or  hardihood, 
that  going  to  grass  may  be  done  in  divers  ways.  When, 
for  instance,  having  recovered  from  his  first  state  of  blank- 
ness,  he  goes  again  at  his  fences,  he  discovers  that  his  horse 
has  picked  up  the  fear  his  rider  left  behind,  and,  thinking 
another  fall  is  due,  refuses  to  jump.  Thereupon  out  of  the 
saddle  goes  Novice  once  more ;  he  was  not  expecting  to  fall 
on  the  take-off  side  of  the  fence.  "  Good !  "  comments 
the  experienced  spectator,  inwardly.  "  Nothing  better  could 
have  happened  him." 

Again  the  horse  is  caught,  and  Novice  mounts  another 
time,  with  courage  still  rising.  The  horse,  however,  has 
been  losing  confidence,  and  feels  that  his  insecurely  seated 
rider  is  likely  to  give  him  another  painful  jab  in  the  mouth 


M 


O 


-C 


O 


11 


Falls  139 

by  getting  the  reins  mixed  or  by  holding  on  by  the  curb 
instead  of  the  snaffle  ;  but  he  is  an  old  hand  and  does  not 
lose  his  temper.  For  a  few  jumps  everything  goes  beauti- 
fully. Novice  feels  as  if  his  education  were  complete,  and 
imagines  himself  startling  a  field  of  experienced  horsemen 
with  wonder,  if  not  with  envy,  by  his  superior  horseman- 
ship—  sure  sign  that  another  cropper  is  in  pickle  for  him. 
He  grows  careless.  From  riding  with  timidity,  he  begins 
now  to  keep  company  with  recklessness,  "  That  's  well," 
says  the  experienced  friend.  "  One  extreme  follows  another. 
It  's  a  natural  law."  Novice  is  getting  on  beautifully. 
The  next  header  will,  in  all  probability,  set  him  back 
where  he  belongs  —  about  half-way  between  extreme  tim- 
idity and  extreme  recklessness,  at  a  place  designated  cau- 
tious-bold or  bold-cautious  on  the  cross-country  rider's 
barometer,  which  may  be  marked  in  some  such  way  as  this : 

(i)  Timid  extreme;  (2)  fearful;  (3)  cautious;  (4)  cau- 
tious-bold. 

(4)  Bold-cautious;  (3)  careless;  (2)  heedless;  (i)  reck- 
less or  "  daredevil  "  extreme. 

Presently  comes  Novice  on  a  new  horse.  This  was  not 
wisdom,  but  he  would  have  it.  The  animal,  as  it  happens, 
has  always  been  a  bit  hot  at  his  fences,  and,  like  most  inex- 
perienced horses,  jumps  about  as  high  again  as  is  necessary 
over  the  first  few  obstacles.  This,  Novice  is  not  prepared 
for,  and  just  manages  to  scramble  back  into  the  saddle  from 
the  horse's  neck,  not  without  having  lost  one  of  his  stirrup- 
irons.      Novice  catches  his  breath  at  the  unexpected  dis- 


140    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

placement,  and  his  mount,  feeling  considerably  above 
himself  this  morning,  and  taking  alarm  at  this  helter- 
skelter  scramble  on  his  back  and  neck,  gets  the  bit  in 
his  teeth  and  rushes  away  with  an  idea  that  there  is  no 
one  at  home.  Novice  was  warned  by  the  groom,  but  he 
was  riding  at  "  heedless,"  and  what  the  groom  said  did 
not  count. 

The  very  first  jump,  however,  sends  him  back  to  the 
"  fearful "  mark.  Now  that  his  mount  is  running  with 
him,  he  wishes  he  had  listened.  But  others  are  looking 
on,  and  he  makes  no  sign.  After  a  turn  or  two  about 
the  field,  going  at  his  own  sweet  will,  his  mount  comes 
to  hand.  Novice  has  lost  his  hat  in  the  meantime. 
He  looks  pale.  He  does  not  think  so  much  of  cross- 
country riding  as  he  did.  Somehow  his  enthusiasm  for 
riding  to  hounds  has  nearly  oozed  out  of  him.  Before 
this  he  has  talked  hunting  to  every  one  who  would  listen, 
read  every  author  on  the  subject  he  could  find  by  day,  and 
dreamed  about  it  by  night.  He  has  ordered  a  new  hunt- 
ing-coat, boots,  and  breeches.  But  now  he  thinks  he 
should  prefer  yachting. 

The  groom,  bringing  him  his  cap,  inquires  :  "Are  n't  the 
stirrups  a  bit  long  for  you  this  morning,  sir?"  —  a  master 
stroke  of  tact.  Novice  assents  as  if  he  had  known  all  the 
time  what  the  matter  was.  Meantime  there  has  been  a 
little  breathing-spell  for  the  mount,  which,  having  rid  him- 
self of  the  surplus  kinks  in  his  back  and  legs,  and  feeling 
somewhat  relieved  of  his  supercharge  of  strength,  is  now  the 
picture  of  docility.  Novice  nevertheless  is  trying  to  frame 
a  plausible  excuse  for  sending  him  to  the  stable,  when  some 


Falh 


141 


one  says,  "  Try  him  again,"  and  another,  "  You  are  not  going 
in,  are  you  ?  " 

"  Not  much,"  repHes  Novice,  in  a  voice  intended  to  con- 
vey a  sense  of  composure  and  determination. 

There  is  no  turning  back  now.  He  has  burned  the 
bridge  behind  him.  So,  with  set  features,  he  crams  on  his 
cap,  takes  a  good  hold  of  the  reins,  hardens  his  heart,  and 
away  he  goes  over. 

"  Well  done  !  " 

"  Good  boy  !  " 

"Try  it  again  !  " 

"Beautifully  jumped  !  " 

**  Perfect  form  !  " 

Exclamations  of  approval  greet  his  half-dazed  senses  as 
he  comes  to  a  halt  before  the  lookers-on.  Now  the  hand 
on  the  barometer  points  at  bold-cautious,  and  his  spirits  rise 
once  more.  He  wishes  he  had  ordered  a  pink  instead  of  a 
grey  melton  for  his  hunting-coat. 

So  far  his  jumping  has  been  confined  to  timber  hurdles 
between  wings  built  up  on  a  schooling-ground.  Another 
jump  or  two  he  negotiates  successfully.  The  colour  returns 
to  his  face,  which  is  now  wreathed  in  smiles  that  he  can  no 
longer  suppress  for  the  tumult  of  joy  going  on  within  him. 
He  proposes  to  try  the  bank  and  ditch,  though  his  groom 
demurs. 

"Why  not?"  asks  our  bold  rider. 

"Well,  please  yourself,  sir.  Only  send  him  at  it  so  as 
to  clear  the  ditch." 

It  is  bad  advice  too  well  followed.  With  too  long  a 
start,  the  mount  takes  off  too  soon,  Novice  thinking  he  was 


142     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

going  to  put  in  another  stride  before  he  jumped.  He  is 
not  prepared,  is  out  of  balance.  His  mount  catches  a 
knee  on  the  bank,  ploughs  a  hole  through  the  top  of  it 
with  his  hind  legs,  and  horse  and  rider  are  both  in  the 
ditch. 

"Nothing  better  could  have  happened,"  reiterates  our 
experienced  rider  as  he  sees  the  mount  racing  for  the  barn 
and  Novice  brushing  the  soil  from  his  clothes  before  he  is 
fairly  on  his  feet.     "  Don't  give  up  defeated." 

"Not  much,"  says  Novice,  with  chattering  teeth. 

"  At  it  to  within  the  last  few  strides,"  advises  the  expe- 
rienced friend,  "  and  mind  he  does  n't  refuse  with  you  at 
the  last  moment." 

It  is  timely  advice  again,  for  refuse  he  does,  and  Novice 
shuts  up  and  opens  like  a  jack-knife  while  going  through 
the  air.  He  lands,  however,  on  all  fours  across  the  ditch, 
while  his  horse  stands  with  his  feet  braced  against  the 
bottom  of  the  bank.  The  law  of  self-preservation  has 
stood  by  him,  and  he  saves  himself  a  bad  jar,  if  nothing 
more,  by  landing  on  his  hands  and  feet  and  scrambling  on 
out  of  the  way  of  his  mount  should  he  be  turning  a  somer- 
sault after  him. 

Novice's  history  is  typical.  During  the  first  falls  reason 
and  instinct  disappear.  The  ground  comes  up  and  hits  one 
in  the  face.  The  time  between  leaving  the  saddle  and 
landing  is  a  blank.  Fear  cuts  off  all  the  faculties.  But 
after  a  few  croppers  without  serious  injury,  fear  has  less 
hold.  Self-preservation  begins  to  work.  One  falls  semi- 
intelligently,  even  retaining  presence  of  mind  enough  to 
hold  on  to  the  reins  and  take  them  along  over  the  horse's 


Falls  143 

head  in  a  neat  and  workmanlike  manner.  And  when  one 
can  do  this  he  knows  how  to  fall. 

I  doubt  if  any  one  can  retain  entire  presence  of  mind 
throughout  a  fall.  As  we  feel  ourselves  going,  reason  de- 
serts us.  When  we  come  to  our  senses  again  we  find 
that  a  kind  of  second  mind  has  acted  in  the  interest  of 
self-preservation,  under  the  influence  of  which  we  have 
clung  to  the  bridle-reins  or  scrambled  the  length  of  our- 
selves to  get  from  beneath  a  possible  somersault  of  the 
horse. 

Some  say  never  part  company  with  your  horse  until  the 
last  moment,  when  he  is  surely  down.  I  cannot  agree  with 
this  counsel.  I  believe  it  is  the  better  part  of  valour  and 
of  horsemanship  to  part  company  with  him  the  moment 
you  feel  that  the  chances  are  he  is  going  down.  Of  course 
your  horse  may  recover  and  you  might  have  saved  yourself 
the  inconvenience  of  mounting  again,  but  it  is  better  by  far 
to  clear  out  while  you  have  the  power  of  self-preservation 
to  go  with  you,  and  land  on  your  hands  and  feet,  than  to  be 
an  instant  too  late  and  so  be  carried  under  your  mount. 
You  will  go  to  grass  oftener  perhaps  by  adopting  this  plan, 
but  it  is  better  to  throw  yourself  off  than  to  wait  until  you 
are  thrown  off.  No  one  can  tell  you  how  this  is  done;  in- 
stinct only  can  direct.  Ride  by  balance,  give  yourself  up 
wholly  to  the  law  of  self-preservation,  and  instinct  will  do 
the  rest. 

It  is  safe  to  say  not  one  fall  in  a  thousand  is  accompanied 
by  injury;  and  that  the  greater  number  of  falls  are  the  fault 
of  the  rider  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Nine  times  out  of  ten 
a  horse  goes  down  because  he  is  thrown  by  the  rider,  either 


144    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

from  the  rider's  being  himself  out  of  balance  or  throwing 
his  horse  out.  Think,  after  all,  what  an  easy  thing  it  is  to 
overbalance  a  person  when  he  is  not  on  both  feet.  A  sud- 
den swerve  of  the  rider's  body  sideways  in  mid-jump  will 
be  sure  to  land  his  horse  with  a  fall  or  a  scramble  to  regain 
his  footing.  Similarly  a  lurch  of  the  rider's  body  back- 
ward at  the  take-off  retards  the  action  of  the  horse  and 
makes  him  jump  short,  so  that  even  if  he  clear  the  obstacle 
with  his  fore  feet  his  hind  legs  are  caught  on  the  fence. 
Again,  by  an  improper  seat,  if  the  rider's  body  lurches 
heavily  forward  as  the  mount  lands,  the  horse  is  thrown  on 
his  head  and  a  somersault  is  the  result.  On  the  other  hand, 
when  a  horse  is  given  perfect  freedom  of  rein  in  clearing 
an  obstacle,  and  his  rider  sits  him  by  balance,  a  spill  is  well- 
nigh  impossible. 


XIII 
COURAGE    VS.    FUNK 


"  At  the  fall  of  the  year,  when  fair  autumn  is  here 

And  the  glories  of  summer  are  fled. 
When  the  evenings  are  long  and  the  breezes  are  strong. 

And  the  leaves  in  the  covert  lie  dead — 
Then,  then  is  it  time  to  our  saddles  to  climb. 

And  in  scarlet  ourselves  to  adorn, 
To  welcome  our  sport  of  the  old-fashioned  sort — 

To  follow  the  hounds  and  the  horn." 

AT    THE    FALL    OF    THE    YEAR 


XIII 
COURAGE  VS.    FUNK 

TRUE    AND    FALSE    NERVE CATALEPTIC     RIDERS PREPARATION 

A    CASE    OF    FUNK    THAT    REACHED    COLLAPSE 

jOURAGE  is  a  product  of  nerve.  Nerve 
is  the  result  of  health.  Health  comes  from 
good  nutrition,  and  nutrition  depends  upon 
the  stomach.  The  best  way  to  produce  cour- 
age is  to  cultivate  good  health.  The  best  way  to  cultivate 
good  health  is  to  take  plenty  of  exercise  in  the  open  air. 
The  best  way  to  accomplish  this  is  to  ride  horseback.  A 
torpid  liver  makes  a  mountain  of  an  ant-hill ;  a  stout 
stomach  makes  an  ant-hill  of  a  mountain  ;  and  no  matter 
what  the  obstacle  is,  it  is  only  what  it  looks  to  be. 

The  one  great  thing  in  the  way  of  a  horse's  education 
and  of  successful  cross-country  work  is  fear.  The  way  to 
subdue  fear  in  a  horse  is  by  confidence.  The  way  to  over- 
come fear  in  a  rider  is  to  keep  the  body  in  a  healthy  con- 
dition. Weak,  shattered  nerves  are  a  fruitful  source  of 
fear  in  man,  and  a  horse's  natural  timidity  makes  it  easy  to 
transmit  fear  to  the  horse.  Anything  the  rider  can  do  or 
not  do  to  strengthen  his  nerves  will  likewise  strengthen  his 
courage  and  the  horse's.      If  tobacco  irritates  his  nerves,  he 

147 


148     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

had  better  stop  using  it.  If  spirits  excite  them  to  a  tension 
that  leaves  them  more  languid  and  unstrung  than  before, 
he  may  know  by  that  sign  that  these  things  also  are  a 
hindrance. 

A  run,  sir,  will  please  you  far  better  than  wine  ; 
The  farther  you  gallop,  the  better  you  '11  dine. 

It  is  a  lamentable  sight  indeed  to  see  a  man  with  nerves 
so  weak  that  he  must  needs  get  half  drunk  before  he  has 
nerve  enough  to  ride  to  hounds.  I  am  not  going  to  preach, 
but  simply  to  caution.  Stimulants  of  any  kind, —  except 
exercise,  fresh  air,  wholesome  food,  and  sound  sleep, — 
while  they  may  produce  a  temporary  effect,  only  make  a 
man's  nerves  weaker  than  they  were  before.  It  is  really  a 
nauseating  sight  to  see  a  man  in  the  hunting-field  "getting 
his  spirits  up  by  putting  spirits  down,"  open  confession  as 
it  is  of  weakness,  fear,  and  funk. 

There  are  all  degrees  of  courage.  Bravery  and  courage 
have  a  common  ancestry  in  nerve.  Recklessness,  heedless- 
ness, and  daredevilry,  on  the  contrary,  are  born  of  fool- 
hardiness,  which  is  the  utter  absence  of  courage.  Some 
men  and  more  women,  I  believe,  perform  feats  in  the  hunt- 
ing-field which  pass  for  nerve  or  courage,  but  which,  when 
we  come  to  analyse  them,  we  find  due  entirely  to  the 
absence  of  these  qualities.  There  can  certainly  be  no 
courage  where  no  danger  is  felt  or  seen  ;  nerves  that  are 
insensible  to  pain  are  not  nerves. 

That  many  men  and  women  ride  to  hounds  with  cour- 
age and  nerve  in  a  sort  of  cataleptic  state,  there  can  be  no 


Courage  vs.  Funk  14.9 

question.  On  the  field  of"  battle,  it  is  said,  men  lose  all 
sense  of  fear  and  do  things  that  seem  wonderfully  brave  and 
courageous,  when  the  truth  is  that  they  have  passed,  for  the 
time  being,  beyond  the  effects  of  fear  or  courage.  Men 
frequently  do  things  in  an  apparently  cool  and  natural  way 
while  what  we  call  nerve  is  —  instead  of  being  active  — 
simply  in  abeyance.  Women  do  many  heroic  things  the 
very  thought  of  which,  when  their  nerve  and  courage 
return,  is  enough  to  make  them  faint. 

Some  persons,  especially  nervous  people,  ride  to  hounds 
in  a  similar  state,  particularly  when  in  the  act  of  jumping. 
They  send  their  horses  at  a  fence  "  neck  or  nothing,"  and 
are  regarded  as  brave  and  courageous,  when  the  fact  is  they 
could  not  have  taken  it  coolly  if  they  had  tried.  In  other 
words,  it  is  a  case  of  fear.  The  same  is  true  of  a  cowardly 
horse.  He  rushes  neck  or  nothing  over  his  fences  as  he  would 
rush  a  steam-roller.  The  rider  rushes  his  fences  as  he 
would  rush  a  crazy  man  firing  a  revolver  at  random.  It 
is  tear  pure  and  simple,  but  it  is  often  called  courage. 
Horses  and  riders  of  this  sort  go  into  a  trance  ;  that  is,  they 
sense  the  danger  to  a  certain  point,  just  as  a  soldier  dreads 
and  fears  the  bullets  until  the  first  round  is  over  and  he 
passes  beyond  fear.  It  is  well  known  that  a  criminal 
who  breaks  down  utterly  at  the  thought  of  being  hanged 
will,  when  the  hour  comes,  walk  out  upon  the  scaffold  with 
more  composure  than  any  person  in  sight.  We  call  it 
courage  in  the  face  of  death.  It  is  neither,  but  a  provision 
of  a  kind  Providence  to  rob  him,  for  the  time,  of  all  sense  of 
fear.  The  really  brave  man,  the  truly  courageous  horse,  is 
one   who  knows   the   danger,  who  realises   as   clearly    and 


150     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

knows  as  distinctly  what  he  is  doing  at  the  moment  as  he 
does  afterward  in  looking  back  upon  it. 

Hardly  less  important  than  presence  of  mind  are  fore- 
sight and  preparation.  A  business  man,  or  a  person  of 
sedentary  habits,  who  found  he  did  not  enjoy  last  season's 
hunting  until  the  very  last  few  days,  was  probably  unpre- 
pared for  it.  One  ought  really  to  begin  a  month  or  more 
before  the  season  opens  to  condition  one's  self  and  fit  one's 
self  out.  The  sooner  a  person  learns  that  this  and  strength 
of  nerve  alone  enable  him  thoroughly  to  enjoy  hunting,  the 
longer  and  keener  will  be  his  pleasure.  "  There  is  no 
use,"  many  men  have  said  in  the  States,  giving  up  hunting 
after  a  year  or  two,  "  in  punishing  and  goading  one's  self 
into  a  pastime  in  which  a  man  is  tortured  with  fear."  The 
trouble  is  that  they  go  to  the  hunting-field  with  no  prepa- 
ration beyond  closing  their  offices  and  packing  their  kits. 
It  is  hardly  any  wonder  that  they  go  in  fear  and  trembling, 
nerved  only  by  friends  and  lookers-on. 

When  you  stop  to  think  about  it,  you  would  not  ask  a 
horse  to  go  through  a  day's  hunting  after  he  had  been 
running  about  in  a  farm-yard  all  winter.  It  would  be 
absurd.  You  have  him  taken  up  six  or  eight  weeks  at 
least  before  the  opening  of  the  season,  and  fed  and  groomed 
and  exercised  until  he  is  as  hard  and  fit  as  possible.  In- 
deed, when  you  come  to  mount  him  you  may  find  him  so 
much  above  himself  that  your  nerves  begin  to  quake;  you 
have  to  resort  to  stimulants.  Even  then,  possibly,  you  ride 
him  only  a  few  miles  and  return  home  completely  ex- 
hausted. A  pack  of  hounds  could  not  run  far  with  no 
more  physical  exercise  than  you  have  had  tor  the  last  eight 


Courage  vs.  Funk  151 

months.  They  could  not  catch  a  fox  if  he  were  "  hoppled." 
Certainly  not,  you  say ;  no  one  would  dream  of  such  a 
thing.  Yet  it  is  what  many  men  do  for  themselves  in 
their  own  cases. 

The  season  opens  October  i.  By  July  i  kennel  work 
begins.  It  is  walk,  walk,  walk,  and  trot,  trot,  trot,  every 
day  a  little  farther.  Even  the  foxes  have  been  bustled 
about  for  a  month  to  make  them  give  a  good  long  chase. 
Your  mount  is  fit.  Everything  and  everybody  is  ready 
and  thoroughly  prepared  for  the  chase,  excepting  you  for 
whom  all  this  preparation  has  been  made,  the  one  of  all  the 
group  who  should  be  as  fit  himself  as  is  the  horse  he  is 
going  to  ride  or  the  hounds  he  expects  to  follow. 

Every  season  brings  to  the  Genesee  Valley  and  other 
hunt  clubs  a  score  or  more  of  soft,  nerve-sick  men,  who 
expect  to  begin  riding  to  hounds  the  next  day,  without 
having  lifted  a  finger  toward  conditioning  themselves. 
Lamentable  sights  indeed  they  are  to  the  natives  and  the 
conditioned  men  who  come  out  to  join  them.  We  have 
seen  them  at  covert-side,  when  waiting  for  the  whip- 
per's-in  cry  of  "  Tally-o,  gone  away !  "  and  the  huntsman's 
rallying  cheer  "  Edawick,  Edawick  !  "  actually  speechless  and 
but  little  short  of  collapse.  Their  faces  are  as  pale  as 
ashes ;  their  supercharged  horses  only  add  to  their  unhap- 
piness.      I  remember  one  case  in  particular  of  a  gentleman 

from  Boston  who  was  a  guest,  for  the  week,  of  a  Mr.  H , 

and  who  had  that  morning  arrived,  with  only  time  to  dress 
before  the  hour  of  the  meet  came  round.  His  mount 
had  been  sent  on  ahead.  The  guest  was  a  fine,  large, 
upstanding  man,  a  little  on  the  corpulent  side  of  life.      He 


152     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

had  ridden  in  the  valley  the  year  before,  and,  while  he 
was  not  a  "  threshing  scoundrel  "  of  a  rider,  had  acquitted 
himself  fairly  well.  But  this  morning  evidently  his  nerve 
was  gone.  He  trembled  so  he  could  hardly  get  into  the 
saddle.  His  host  had  mounted  him  on  his  old  trustworthy 
Billy  Claffy,  as  honest  an  old  hunter  as  ever  laid  a  foot  to 
grass,  whom  nothing  could  make  do  wrong.  He  was  as 
sober-going  as  a  deacon  passing  the  Sunday  plate.  Now  it 
so  happened  Billy's  rider  and  I  came  alongside  of  each 
other  on  the  way  to  the  covert.  I  spoke  a  few  words  to 
him,  but  he  could  not  answer  for  a  moment.  Finally  he 
faltered  :    "  I  am  going  to  fall  off  at  the  very  first  fence." 

"Nonsense!"  said  I,  reassuringly.  "With  Billy  Claffy 
you  are  as  safe  as  if  you  were  in  a  trundle-bed  with  your 
own  mother  to  rock  it." 

But,  sure  enough,  in  jumping  over  a  three-rail  fence  on 
the  way  to  the  Hartman  flats,  off  went  the  guest  like  a 
quarter  of  beef.  Co-chug !  he  landed  on  the  grass  in  a 
sitting  posture,  with  one  foot  sticking  through  his  new  silk 
hat.  It  was  about  the  most  laughable  sight  I  ever  saw. 
The  fall  seemed  to  daze  him  for  a  moment ;  then,  recov- 
ering himself,  he  cried  out :  "  Catch  my  horse  !  Here, 
somebody  I      I  say,  there,  catch  my  horse  !  " 

Billy  Claffy,  all  the  while,  was  not  the  length  of  himself 
away,  quietly  eating  grass.  This  was  the  end,  so  far  as  I 
ever  knew,  of  this  gentleman's  riding.  It  was  a  case  of 
funk  that  reached  collapse,  and  all  for  want  of  a  little 
preparation. 

In  another  field  of  sport  we  see  similar  cases  every  year 
in  the  woods  of  Maine  and  Canada.      The  typical  city  man 


Courage  vs.  Funk  153 

goes  shooting,  following,  or  trying  to  follow,  a  guide  over 
rough  ground,  when  he  has  not  walked  more  than  quarter 
or  half  of  a  mile  a  day  for  a  year.  When  he  comes  home 
he  has  a  fit  of  sickness  and  is  more  in  need  of  a  vacation 
than  when  he  started. 

How  shall  you  prepare  yourself?  First  shut  down  a  bit, 
if  not  altogether,  on  tobacco  and  liquors.  Take  one  Turk- 
ish bath,  or  possibly  two,  a  week,  if  you  are  carrying  too 
much  fat.  Begin  with  Indian  clubs  or  dumb-bells  at 
home,  if  you  cannot  go  regularly  to  a  gymnasium,  and  work 
moderately,  say  for  one  hour,  with  frequent  resting  and 
afterward  a  cold  spray  before  you  go  to  bed.  Repeat  the 
exercise  and  shower  next  morning  before  dressing  for  the 
day.  Increase  the  exercise  until  you  can  do  two  hours  at 
night  and  at  least  one  in  the  morning,  and  in  addition  walk 
to  your  office,  or  as  much  of  the  way  as  possible,  and  back 
again.  For  the  reasons  already  given  in  the  chapter  on 
"  Seat,"  in  the  passages  speaking  of  riding  by  balance  and  ot 
the  law  of  self-preservation,  fencing  or  boxing  would  in  all 
probability  be  the  best  possible  exercise  for  you.  There  is 
no  indoor  sport  like  fencing.  It  trains  the  nerves,  quickens 
instinct,  and  developes  every  muscle  in  the  body.  There  is 
nothing  better  suited  to  a  man  after  his  college  days  are 
over. 

Without  this  preparation,  or  something  like  it,  your  va- 
cation will  end  just  where  it  should  have  begun.  Fit  your- 
self to  be  a  suitable  companion  to  your  mount,  and  he  will 
give  you  such  a  month  of  sport  as  will  keep  your  blood 
tingling  for  a  year  to  come.  I  cannot  convey  to  you  by 
any  words  the  great  gulf  there  is  fixed  between  the  man 


154    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

who  goes  to  his  vacation  fit  and  the  one  who  is  not.  Try 
both  ways  and  see.  A  horse  above  himself  with  "over- 
fit"  and  a  man  beneath  himself  with  "under-fit"  make 
about  as  unsociable  a  couple  as  ever  come  together  in  the 
hunting-field. 


XIV 
THE    HOUND 


'  So  model  thou  thy  pack,  if  honour  touch 
Thy  gen'rous  soul,  and  the  world's  just  applause. 
But  above  all  take  heed,  nor  mix  thy  hounds 
Of  difF'rent  kinds;   discordant  sounds  shall  grate 
Thy  ears  offended,  and  a  lagging  line 
Of  babbling  curs  disgrace  thy  broken  pack." 

SOMERVILLE 


XIV 
THE    HOUND 

STANDARD      OF     EXCELLENCE DRAFTING     FOR     FAULTS AMERICAN 

AND     ENGLISH    HOUNDS    COMPARED 

(HE  foxhound  has  attained  his  present  degree 
of  perfection  after  two  hundred  years  and 
more  of  the  most  careful  selecting  and  breed- 
ing. It  is  owing  to  the  persistent  striving  of 
English  masters  of  hounds,  generation  after  generation,  to 
produce  the  highest  standard  of  utility,  combined  with 
beauty  and  symmetry  of  form,  colour,  and  markings,  the 
nicest  balancing  of  tongue  and  nose,  and  the  utmost  uni- 
formity in  pace,  that  these  and  the  dozen  other  qualities 
that  go  to  make  a  perfect  hound  have  been  achieved. 
There  is  no  animal  in  the  world,  not  even  the  horse,  that 
has  had  such  attention  paid  to  its  breeding  as  the  foxhound 
has  had  in  England.  Few  families  can  show  an  unbroken 
pedigree  of  such  length  as  may  be  traced  in  those  of  thou- 
sands of  foxhounds,  and,  when  it  comes  to  breeding,  equally 
few  in  the  nation  can  produce  such  purity  of  blood 
and  such  an  untarnished  escutcheon  as  the  foxhounds  of 
the  present  day  in  England.  Indeed,  there  is  none  in  the 
whole  list  of  domestic  animals  whose  standard  of  excellence 

157 


158     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

can  be  compared  with  that  of  a  hound.      The  foxhound  is 
the  only  animal  of  which  it  cannot  be  said 


One  genius  will  but  one  body  fit ; 
So  wide  is  art,  so  narrow  human  wit. 

In  cattle  and  horses,  as  in  all  other  domestic  animals,  one 
quality  beyond  symmetry  and  beauty  is  about  all  one  breed 
can  be  asked  to  develope.  Occasionally  a  zealous  breeder 
will  set  up  a  claim  that  his  breed  of  cattle  is  superior  in 
two  points  of  excellence,  as,  for  instance,  in  both  butter  and 
milk,  or  in  both  beef  qualities  and  in  milk.  Such  animals, 
however,  cannot  compete  with  either  the  trained  dairy  or 
the  trained  beef  breeds.  Some  breeder  of  sheep  may  set 
up  a  claim  that  his  particular  breed  of  sheep  is  superior  for 
both  wool  and  mutton.  Such  sheep,  however,  are  in  the 
one  case  always  beaten  at  a  sheep-shearing  contest,  and  in 
the  other,  again,  in  competition  with  a  mutton  breed. 

To  say  of  a  horse  that  he  is  good  for  speed  and  draft 
means  that  he  excels  at  neither. 

One  breed  of  dogs  may  be  noted  for  its  beauty,  another 
for  its  symmetry,  another  for  its  grace  or  uniformity  in 
colour  and  markings.  The  English  foxhound  is  the 
equal,  if  not  the  superior,  of  any  family,  however  distin- 
guished in  any  one  particular.  As  to  endurance  and  muscu- 
lar development,  nothing  approaches  him.  The  Duke 
of  Rutland's  champion  stud-hound  Belvoir  Dexter  mea- 
sures eight  and  a  quarter  inches  around  the  forearm,  and 
is  muscled  throughout  in  proportion.  In  general  hunting 
ability  a  foxhound  possesses  the  fling  and  drive  of  a  pointer 
and  the  speed  of  a  race-horse.  He  has  the  keenest  of 
noses  and  the  most  musical  of  tongues.      Indeed,  there  is 


The  Hound  159 

not  a  single  desirable  quality  to  be  imagined  in  a  dog  that 
he  does  not  possess ;  not  a  single  attribute  of  an  ideal 
hound  for  hunting  hares,  foxes,  or  deer  that  he  has  not  had 
bred  into  him.  Yet,  wonderful  as  it  is  to  find  so  many 
qualifications  in  a  single  animal,  they  are  but  the  founda- 
tion of  what  an  English  breeder  is  satisfied  with  for  his 
pack.  A  first-class  pack  of  hounds  consists,  on  an  average, 
of  fifty  couples.  Any  man  who  has  had  experience  in 
breeding  pointers  or  setters  knows  what  it  means  to  grow 
a  single  pair  of  dogs  that  work  properly  together  after 
birds ;  what,  then,  must  it  mean  to  produce  a  hundred 
hounds  "  with  but  a  single  thought "  ? 

For  a  description  of  an  ideal  English  foxhound  we  can- 
not do  better  than  call  on  Somerville  as  follows  : 

His  glossy  skin,  or  yellow-pied,  or  blue, 

In  lights  or  shades  by  nature's  pencil  drawn. 

Reflects  the  various  tints;  his  ears  and  legs, 

Fleckt  here  and  there,  in  gay  enamell'd  pride, 

Rivals  the  speckled  pard;  his  rush-grown  tail 

O'er  his  broad  back  bends  in  an  ample  arch; 

On  shoulders  clean,  upright  and  firm  he  stands; 

His  round  cat-foot,  straight  hams,  and  wide-spread  thighs. 

And  his  low-dropping  chest,  confess  his  speed. 

His  strength,  his  wind,  or  on  the  steepy  hill. 

Or  far-extended  plain. 

The  following  imperfections  would  draft  a  young  hound, 
no  matter  what  his  other  qualities  might  be  :  a  coarse  head; 
a  head  lacking  in  character;  a  short  neck;  a  throaty  neck;  a 
slackness  behind  the  shoulders ;  a  weak  loin  ;  a  stern  set  on  too 
low  or  not  properly  carried ;  a  narrow  chest ;  legs  lacking  bone ; 
crooked  legs;  weak  joints;  large  flat  feet  and  long  toes;  de- 
fects of  colour  or  markings;  a  lack  of  general  robustness. 


i6o     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

Any  one  of  these  defects  is  almost  certain  to  draft  a  hound 
without  even  a  trial  in  the  field.  Passing  the  examination 
for  these  defects  is  like  passing  the  masonic  **  first  degree." 
Out  of  one  hundred  puppies  that  come  in  from  their 
"walks"  from  thirty-five  to  forty  per  cent,  are  thus  drafted, 
and  of  these  first-draft  youngsters  some  are  killed  at  once. 
In  doing  this,  to  be  sure,  the  huntsman  or  master  may  be 
destroying  some  of  the  best  working  hounds  of  the  pack, 
or  the  best  in  breeding,  and  it  takes  a  bit  of  courage  to  kill 
a  fine  upstanding  youngster  because  he  is  badly  formed  in 
some  essential.  Occasionally  a  drafted  hound  of  very 
superior  breeding  is  given  a  chance  of  a  field  trial;  but  he 
is  half  doomed  to  start  with,  and  unless  he  should  prove 
himself  something  above  the  average  in  field  work,  he 
would  be  the  first  to  go  in  the  second  draft. 

It  would  seem  that  after  hounds  had  passed  such  rigid 
examinations  as  the  above  they  were  entitled  to  admission 
without  more  ado.  The  hardest  examination,  the  supreme 
test,  however,  is  still  to  come.  The  first  draft  was  by  a 
standard  of  "  Handsome  is  that  perfect  is."  The  second 
test  is  "  Handsome  is  that  handsome  does,"  and  elevates  the 
candidate  from  a  dog  to  a  hound.  The  hound  that  is 
finally  found  good  enough  to  become  a  member  of  this 
most  aristocratic  family  must  be : 

Not  too  tall  or  too  short  ;'=" 

*  Twenty-three  or  twenty-four  inches  is  the  standard.  If  a  hound  is  over  that 
he  IS  classed  as  a  staghound  and  is  in  demand  for  packs  that  chase  the  stag  or  hunt 
the  wild  deer.  If  below  that  standard  he  finds  his  way  into  the  harrier  packs. 
The  beagle  hounds  are  still  smaller  than  the  harriers,  and  are  used  to  hunt  the  hare 
on  foot.  They  are  nevertheless  members  of  the  foxhound  family,  the  difference 
being  principally  in  size. 


The  Hound  i6i 

(x)  Neither  too  slow  nor  too  fast; 

Not  too  free  in  giving  tongue. 

(x)  He  must  not  give  too  little;  a  hound  that  runs  mute 
is  killed  without  further  delay,  and  so  is  a  confirmed 
babbler. 

He  must  not  be  a  line  hunter  —  one  that  insists  on  follow- 
ing with  his  nose  the  very  track  of  the  fox. 

(x)  He  must  not  be  a  skirter,  or  one  that  runs  too  wide 
and  is  content  to  let  the  other  hounds  do  the  hunting ;  he 
must  be  a  worker  in  every  respect  and  not  a  hanger-on. 

He  must  have  a  melodious  voice,  neither  too  high  nor 
too  low;  of  such  a  pitch,  that  is,  as  makes  no  discord  in  the 
melody  of  the  pack. 

(x)  He  must  never  tell  a  lie  by  giving  tongue  to  a  line 
until  he  is  absolutely  certain. 

(x)  He  must  not  take  to  running  the  scent  or  line  of  any 
other  animal.  A  hound  that  is  at  all  given  to  running  riot 
has  the  death-warrant  read  to  him,  with  little  chance  of 
a  reprieve. 

A  cross  (x)  in  the  above  enumeration  means  that  for  a 
defect  in  that  particular  the  sentence  is  death.  Hounds  that 
fail  in  this  second  test  go  out  in  what  is  called  the  second 
draft,  and  are  usually  sold  for  a  nominal  sum  to  form  the 
nucleus  of  some  foreign  pack,  or  to  some  neighbouring  pack 
which  wishes  to  obtain  good  blood  for  a  little  money. 

By  the  time  the  second  draft  is  completed,  fifty  per  cent, 
of  the  year's  crop  of  puppies  have  been  weeded  out.  This 
does  not  take  into  account  the  distemper,  a  malady  to 
which,  of  course,  all  are  subject  and  of  which  many  die. 

Next  comes  the   third    degree.      The   requirements   are 


1 62     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

quite    as   rigid   as    in   the   first  and   second  degrees.      The 
hound  must  prove  himself  to  be: 

Neither  quarrelsome  nor  timid. 

Neither  slovenly  nor  too  fastidious. 

Neither  a  glutton  nor  a  poor  feeder. 

Neither  sulky  nor  quick-tempered. 

Neither  too  meek  nor  disobedient. 

Having  passed  this  critical  test  under  the  watchful  eye  of 
the  kennel  huntsman,  who  has  little  indulgence  or  in- 
clination to  excuse,  and  being  thus  duly  and  truly  prepared, 
the  dog  is  permitted  by  the  master  to  pass  into  the  inner 
court,  the  holy  of  holies,  as  master  workman,  with  the 
enviable  distinction  of  being  thereafter  styled  a  thoroughly 
qualified  foxhound. 

We  have  gone  in  some  detail  into  this  question  of 
standard  and  of  drafting  for  two  reasons :  first,  to  show  the 
novice  the  almost  priceless  value  of  a  hound  ;  and,  second, 
to  set  an  example  that  may  elevate  the  standard  of  hound- 
breeding  in  America  to  the  position  it  holds  in  England. 

In  the  States  the  rule  is  "  Handsome  is  that  handsome  goes ' ' ; 
and  everything  goes.  Generally  speaking,  the  hound  is  looked 
upon  as  a  dog.  To  speak  of  a  hound  in  England  as  a  dog 
would  offend  quite  as  much  as  it  would  in  America  to  call  a 
well-bred  dog  a  cur.  Americans  are  very  clever,  as  a  rule, 
in  "  catching  on"  to  any  new  enterprise;  but  the  art  or  sci- 
ence of  breeding  domestic  animals  for  improvement  is  not, 
as  a  rule,  one  of  their  accomplishments.  There  are,  how- 
ever, a  few  masters  of  hounds  in  Canada  and  the  United 
States  who  have  caught  the  spirit,  the  fascination,  the  great 
pleasure,  there  is  in  the  art  and  science  of  breeding.      Let 


The  Hound  163 

us  hope  the  ambition  which  Mr.  Thomas  Hitchcock,  Jr., 
has  for  his  pack  of  pure-bred  American  hounds  at  Aiken, 
South  Carolina,  to  mark  out  a  line  of  improvement  toward 
a  higher  standard,  will  meet  with  the  unqualified  success  it 
deserves.  It  is  a  most  sportsmanlike  undertaking.  The 
most  he  had  to  start  with  was  a  nose  and  a  musical  tongue. 

For  the  most  part  the  so-called  American  hound  is  a  sort 
of  nondescript  dog,  without  a  standard.  American  hounds, 
which  are  all  more  or  less  of  bloodhound  extraction,  are 
certainly  very  well  adapted  to  hunting  the  hilly,  rough 
country,  the  ploughed  and  sun-baked  fields  generally,  of 
their  native  land.  They  are  most  methodical,  painstaking, 
and  plodding,  and  seldom  fail,  if  they  can  follow  the  trail 
at  all,  to  account  for  the  fox. 

They  are  well  enough,  that  is,  so  far  as  they  go  ;  but 
fox-hunting  is  not  simply  the  killing  of  a  fox.  A  home- 
made snare,  a  rat-trap,  or  a  bit  of  "rough-on-rats"  would 
do  that  much  with  far  more  ease  and  despatch.  Whoever 
has  ridden  to  a  nondescript  pack  of  hounds,  in  which 
absence  of  any  kind  of  uniformity  is  the  chief  characteristic, 
and  has  afterward  followed  a  pack  of  up-to-date  foxhounds 
in  England,  will  have  marked  such  a  contrast  as  will  for- 
ever after  prevent  him  from  repeating  what  one  so  often 
hears  in  America:  "I  don't  care  what  a  hound  is  like,  as 
long  as  he  can  hunt !  " 

An  erroneous  notion  is  current  among  hunting  men  in 
America  that  in  some  way  symmetry  and  beauty  are  antago- 
nistic to  utility,  and  that  the  American  hound  is  better,  if 
anything,  than  the  English.  It  must  be  admitted  that  there 
is  some  excuse,  if  no  reason,  for  this  belief.      When  Ameri- 


164    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

cans  send  abroad  for  hounds  they  are  invariably  selected 
from  the  fashionable  racing  packs  of  the  great  grass  coun- 
tries. These  hounds  have  symmetry  and  beauty  and  the 
speed  of  greyhounds,  and  for  their  own  particular  country 
are  the  best  in  the  world.  An  American  hound  might  well 
think  himself  nothing  but  a  cur  in  such  company,  and 
would  be  left  hopelessly  behind  in  the  second  or  third 
field.  The  trouble  is  that  in  the  beautiful  grass  countries, 
with  their  prevailing  moist  climate,  the  scent  of  a  fox  lies 
so  well  that  a  hound  with  half  a  nose  can  follow  it  at  full 
speed.  Brought  to  the  States  and  asked  to  follow  a  line 
over  sun-parched  fields  and  fallow  land,  he  is  more  often  at 
fault  than  an  American  hound  ;  yet  the  fault  is  not  with  the 
English  hound,  but  with  the  locality  from  whence  he  came. 
There  are  many  packs  in  England  where  far  more  suitable 
selections  of  hounds  for  America  could  be  made  than  those 
which  come  from  the  grass  countries.  I  mean  such  packs 
as  hunt  the  more  barren  and  hilly  lands,  in  which  conditions 
as  to  scent  are  similar  to  those  of  the  States. 

Whatever  is  done,  Americans  should  not  be  content 
longer  with  "  Handsome  is  that  handsome  does."  Let 
them  preserve  untarnished  the  sport  of  the  game,  and  not 
lower  the  hunting  part  of  it  to  the  level  of  a  rat-trap. 
If  it  is  merely  a  question  of  getting  across  a  lake,  take  a 
ferry.  If  it  is  a  question  of  sport,  take  a  sail-boat.  You 
may  need  more  time,  but  you  have  the  satisfaction  of  doing 
the  thing  in  a  sportsmanlike  way. 


XV 
HOUND    BREEDING 


"See  there,  with  countenance  blithe. 
And  with  a  courtly  grin,  the  fawning  hound 
Salutes  thee,  cowering;  his  wide-opening  nose 
Upward  he  curls,  and  his  large  sloe-black  eyes 
Melt  in  soft  blandishments,  and  humble  joy." 

SOMERVILLE 


XV 
HOUND    BREEDING 

ORIGIN    OF    THE    BREED DIFFICULTIES    IN    THE    WAY THE    SKILL 

OF    ENGLISH     BREEDERS MATING    AND     BIRTH 

(HERE  is  much  discussion  among  hound- 
fanciers  as  to  the  origin  of  the  foxhound, 
historically  speaking  a  new  family,  the  result 
of  cross-breeding,  or  out-crossing,  from  the 
bloodhound.  All  authorities  agree  that  the  bloodhound 
is  the  ancestor  on  one  side.  As  to  the  other,  opinions  dif- 
fer. Most  writers  say  the  out-cross  was  with  the  South- 
ern hound,  himself  an  offshoot  of  the  bloodhound.  There 
are  many  things  about  the  present-day  foxhound,  as  well 
as  the  bloodhound,  that  suggest  the  greyhound.  Both 
the  greyhound  and  the  bloodhound,  for  instance,  are  known 
to  be  of  ancient  family.  The  characteristic  of  the  one 
family  is  great  speed ;  of  the  other,  superior  olfactory 
powers.  The  former  pursues  its  game  entirely  by  sight, 
the  latter  depends  entirely  upon  scent.  Originally  hunting 
in  England  was  done  with  hounds  that  had  special  indi- 
vidual propensities.  Some  were  used  to  hunt  in  cover, 
while  those  that  hunted  by  view  were  used  in  the  opening. 
"The  horn,"  says  Cecil,  in  "  Records  of  the  Chase,"  "was 
used  indiscriminately  to  call  them  together." 

167 


1 68     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

Probably  the  bloodhound  and  the  greyhound  were  used 
together,  each  for  the  special  work  in  which  the  other  was 
deficient,  as  a  stalwart  blind  man  might  carry  a  cripple 
who  could  see  to  guide  him.  It  would  therefore  be  a 
natural  step,  since  one  hound  could  hunt  only  by  sight  and 
the  other  only  by  scent,  to  cross  them  with  a  view  to  com- 
bining the  superior  ability  of  each.  Another  bit  of  evi- 
dence to  be  found  in  Cecil  is  the  passage  in  which  he  says 
the  dogs  were  "  crooked-lean,  coarse-haired,  with  heavy 
eyes  and  of  a  tan  colour."  This  is  the  description  neither  of 
a  greyhound  nor  of  a  bloodhound,  but  of  some  cross-bred 
animal  of  the  two  families,  having  the  "crooked-lean"  of 
the  greyhound  type,  with  the  "  heavy  eyes "  and  "  tan 
colour  "  of  the  bloodhound.  But  even  if  this  evidence, 
and  more  of  the  same  sort,  were  entirely  lacking,  there  are 
most  unmistakable  traces  in  the  English  foxhound,  as  he 
stands  to-day,  of  a  strong  dash  of  the  greyhound  as  well  as 
of  the  bloodhound ;  compare  the  pictures  opposite. 

The  greyhound  is  described  in  a  very  old  couplet  which 
comes  as  near  being  a  description  of  an  English  foxhound 
of  to-day  as  would  be  a  description  of  a  contemporary 
bloodhound.  The  "  neck  Uke  a  drake's,"  "  back  like  a 
beam,"  the  great  depth  of  chest,  the  shortness  of  the  joints 
below  the  knees  and  hocks,  not  to  mention  speed,  undoubt- 
edly are  points  common  to  the  three  species.  English 
breeders  have  not  only  preserved  in  the  foxhound  certain 
distinguished  features  of  the  greyhound,  but  they  have  also 
developed  in  him  certain  characteristics  of  conformation 
peculiar  to  him  and  to  no  other  family  or  race  of  dogs.  It 
is  sufficient  to  mention  the  wonderful  increase  of  bone,  the 


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Hound  Breeding  169 

straightness  of  the  fore  legs,  and  the  shape  of  the  feet. 
They  have  succeeded  also,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  pictures 
of  foxhounds  in  this  volume,  in  preserving  the  head-car- 
riage and  the  neck  of  the  greyhound,  the  latter  as  much 
smaller  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  foxhound's  body 
as  the  legs,  especially  the  fore  legs,  are  enlarged.  This, 
again,  shows  to  what  a  wonderful  degree  of  comeliness  and 
utility  these  animals  have  attained.  Altogether  I  reaffirm 
my  belief  that  the  English  foxhound  is  the  most  wonderful 
example  of  the  art  of  breeding  for  improvement  anywhere 
to  be  observed. 

It  is  by  no  means  easy  to  produce  a  new  breed  of  domes- 
tic animals,  even  under  the  most  favourable  circumstances. 
We  may  cross  two  families  of  dairy  cattle,  or  two  families 
of  beef  cattle,  or  the  thoroughbred  with  the  standard  horse, 
with  a  view  to  producing  a  new  family ;  but  it  would  be 
considered  madness  and  a  waste  of  time  to  attempt  to  form 
a  new  breed  by  crossing  a  thoroughbred  with  a  clydesdale. 
In  crossing  families  of  similar  tendencies,  the  first  cross 
often  produces  a  very  useful  animal ;  after  that  what  the 
two  families  have  in  common  will  be  their  original  inferior- 
ity. The  improvements  developed  in  either  family  through 
fifty  or  a  hundred  or  hundreds  of  years  disappear.  A 
clydesdale  and  a  thoroughbred  would  not  mix  or  blend  any 
more  than  oil  and  water  would.  The  greyhound-blood- 
hound cross  must  have  been  quite  as  rank  an  out-cross  as  a 
thoroughbred-clydesdale  cross,  and  many  times  more  difficult. 
The  greyhound,  entirely  deficient  in  nose,  and  the  blood- 
hound, depending  on  nothing  else, —  the  slowest  and  the 
fastest,  the  loudest,  deepest-mouthed,  and  the  most  silent, — 


lyo    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

it  is  impossible  to  imagine  a  greater  gulf  to  bridge.  Theo- 
retically it  sounds  most  desirable;  in  practice  it  must  have 
been  the  hardest  task  ever  undertaken.  How  disappointing 
the  results  may  have  been  all  the  way  down  the  line  we  may 
never  know,  but  that  the  English  have  fought  it  out  is  to  their 
highest  credit.  I  say  "  fought  it  out,"  but  the  battle  indeed 
is  not  yet  finished.  It  is  not  at  all  infrequent,  even  at  the 
present  day,  to  have  a  hound  cast  back  with  such  marked 
characteristics  of  the  greyhound  in  one  case,  or  of  the 
bloodhound  in  another,  as  to  disqualify  him  as  a  foxhound 
entirely;  nor  are  such  examples  of  atavism  uniform  in  cer- 
tain mothers,  for  puppies  of  the  same  litter  often  display 
the  opposite  characteristics  of  the  original  progenitors. 
One  puppy  is  drafted  for  being  too  slow  and  painstaking, 
another  for  being  unable  to  follow  the  line,  another  for 
being  too  free  of  tongue,  and  still  another  for  being  mute. 

Constant  tendency  to  revert  to  one  parent  or  the  other 
of  course  makes  all  cross-bred  breeding  most  difficult.  Mr. 
Peas,  in  his  excellent  work  "  Hunting  Reminiscences," 
says  it  probably  is  within  the  mark  to  say  that  a  Master 
who  raises  sixty  or  eighty  couples  of  puppies  thinks  himself 
fortunate  if  out  of  the  number  there  are  ten  or  twenty 
couples  that  come  up  to  the  standard  at  which  he  aims ; 
and  that  out  of  this  he  can  hope  only  now  and  again  to 
find  a  couple  fit  to  win  at  the  Peterborough  Hound  Show. 

Some  Americans — usually,  I  believe,  the  men  who  have 
tried  and  failed  — scoff  at  what  they  call  "  fancy  breeding." 
The  trouble  is,  they  have  failed  almost  entirely  to  grasp 
the  nature  of  the  problem. 

For  the  best  stud-sires  Americans  have  paid  to  English 


Hound  Breeding  171 

breeders  millions  of  dollars,  simply  for  the  thing  so  many  of 
them  scoff  at  —  style  and  beauty.  "Fancy  breeding"  in- 
deed !  Five  thousand  dollars  are  paid  for  a  bull,  ten 
thousand  for  a  horse,  when  a  bull  of  equal  weight  could 
be  bought  in  the  States  for  fifty  dollars  and  for  two 
hundred  dollars  a  horse  that  could  draw  as  large  a  load. 
A  five-dollar  dog  could  bark  at  a  squirrel  quite  as  well  as 
one  that  cost  five  hundred  dollars  in  England.  The  high 
prices  are  for  style,  symmetry,  beauty.  One  may  shout, 
"Handsome  is  that  handsome  does,"  until  he  is  black  in 
the  face.  Simple  utility  in  anything  is  a  matter  of  pennies. 
It  costs  dollars,  and  hundreds  of  them,  to  buy  style  and  form 
and  beauty.  There  is  no  use  going  to  England  for  the 
best  pack  of  hounds  in  that  country  if  a  man  does  not  ap- 
preciate what  it  means  and  has  cost  to  produce  them. 
They  would  only  deteriorate  on  his  hands.  England  may 
be  slow  and  behind  the  times  in  some  respects,  but  in  the 
art  and  science  of  breeding  she  is  two  hundred  years  ahead 
of  America.  In  the  last  few  centuries  there  have  been 
developed  in  England  half  a  dozen  or  more  new  and  dis- 
tinct families  of  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  poultry,  and 
dogs,  while  in  the  States  there  are  only  the  standard  bred 
trotter,  produced  more  by  accident  than  by  design,  and  the 
"  American  Dominion  "  hen,  which  latter,  I  am  informed,  is 
now  well-nigh  extinct. 

It  may  sound  unpatriotic  to  say  all  this  of  one's  own 
country,  but  the  writer's  great  desire  to  see  American 
breeders  generally,  and  American  masters  of  hounds  in  par- 
ticular, take  hold  of  this  question  of  breeding  for  improve- 
ment on  a  plane  level  with   their  intelligence  must  be  his 


172     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

excuse.  Any  one  can  breed  curs:  only  an  artist  can  turn 
out  hounds  that  year  after  year  are  more  and  more  sym- 
metrical, beautiful,  and  fitted  to  the  special  purposes  for 
which  they  are  intended.  I  would  hear  no  more  of  this 
"  Handsome  is  that  handsome  does,"  but  insist  upon  it  that 
American  hounds  should  be  as  perfect  in  build  and  beauty 
as  their  noses  are  true  to  the  line.  The  beauty  of  hunting, 
what  most  captivates  and  keeps  one  at  it,  is  the  manner  and 
style  with  which  the  hounds  unravel  the  line.  It  is  the 
neatness  and  despatch,  the  fling  and  drive  with  which  they 
follow  their  game  that  one  most  enjoys,  especially  so  if  to 
all  these  good  qualities  there  is  added  beauty  —  uniformity 
in  size,  colour,  and  markings. 

In  the  breeding  of  hounds  the  question  of  right  mating 
is  a  very  interesting  one.  Most  masters  take  great  pains 
and  give  special  thought  to  the  problem  as  to  which  of 
certain  stud-hounds  should  be  used  on  certain  bitches.  The 
question  of  pedigree  has  to  be  gone  over  carefully  to  avoid 
inbreeding.  The  faults  of  the  bitch  must  be  corrected 
in  the  selection  of  the  sire.  Forrester  is  a  grand  stamp  of 
hound,  with  the  best  legs  and  feet,  but  he  is  lacking  in 
freedom  of  tongue ;  he  is  selected  to  be  coupled  with  Mis- 
tress, who,  although  not  a  babbler,  loves  almost  too  well  to 
hear  the  music  of  her  own  voice.  Forrester  cannot  be 
used  on  Bluebells,  because  his  sire,  like  hers,  was,  although 
not  a  skirter,  in  the  habit  of  running  wide.  For  Bluebells 
the  best  line  hunter  of  the  pack  is  selected  to  prevent  the 
return  in  her  descendants  of  the  faults  of  her  sire  or  grand- 
sire.  Quickstep,  although  a  model  hound  herself,  was  sired 
by  a  hound  whose  puppies  turned  out  weak  in  the  lower 


Hound  Breeding  173 

joints.  In  order  to  stamp  out  that  serious  defect,  Sampson, 
quite  a  faulty  hound  in  some  respects,  is  selected  because  in 
bone  and  straightness  of  legs  he  is  nearly  perfection. 
Brightlight  cannot  be  coupled  with  Overton,  who  would 
suit  her  in  every  respect  except  that  they  both  have  rather 
large  feet.  Thus  we  might  go  on  enumerating  combina- 
tions without  end. 

Then,  aside  from  producing  hounds  with  the  straightest 
legs,  the  roundest  cat-like  feet,  the  deepest  chests,  the 
stoutest  shoulders  and  loins,  the  best  of  tongues,  and  the 
greatest  fling  and  drive,  there  must  also  of  course  be  the  most 
delicate  noses.  The  most  difficult  problem  of  all  is  to  breed 
hounds  with  size  and  at  the  same  time  with  quality.  The 
suggestions  made  in  the  chapter  on  breeding  horses  may 
be  applied  here  with  equal  benefit. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  what  it  means  to  produce 
a  perfect  hound  and  to  give  an  idea  of  the  value  and  inter- 
est the  Master  and  huntsman  must  have  in  every  puppy 
considered  good  enough  to  come  out  in  the  yearly  entry. 
I  have  lingered  a  bit  on  this  subject  in  my  anxiety  to 
acquaint  those  unfamiliar  with  the  life  of  a  foxhound  with 
something  more  concerning  his  history.  I  desire  that 
when  my  supposititious  novice  finally  comes  out  to  hunt  he 
may  appreciate  the  animals  he  is  riding  after  as  well  as  the 
one  that  carries  him,  and  somewhat  share  the  Master's  and 
huntsman's  feelings  in  regard  to  what  they  call  their  "  price- 
less beauties."  Besides,  it  will  add  much  to  his  interest  in 
the  game. 

Now  let  us  hark  back  to  the  kennels.  The  whelping 
season   is   approaching.     The  bitches  at  this  time  require 


174    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

special  care  and  attention.  They  are  separated  from  the 
pack  and  put  in  special  lying-in  kennels,  their  diet  changed 
somewhat  with  the  view  of  diminishing  fever  and  increas- 
ing the  flow  of  milk. 

When  now  the  third  revolving  moon  appears 
With  sharpen'd  horns  above  the  horizon's  brink, 
Without  Lucina's  aid,  expect  thy  hopes 
Are  amply  crown'd;  short  pangs  produce  to  light 
The  smoking  litter,  crawling,  helpless,  blind  ; 
Nature  their  guide,  they  seek  the  pouting  teat. 

The  puppies  are  confined  with  their  mothers  in  the  ken- 
nels for  a  time,  and  later  a  wire  netting  gives  them  a  small 
enclosure.  In  fact,  they  are  treated  very  much  like  a  brood 
of  chickens.  From  four  to  six  puppies  is  the  average 
number  in  a  litter.  Their  eyes  open  when  they  are  about 
ten  days  old,  and  the  small  enclosure  is  eventually  removed, 
giving  the  whelps  the  freedom  of  the  lawn  or  paddock. 
It  is  a  beautiful  sight  —  forty  or  fifty  fat,  awkward  puppies 
tumbling  about  on  the  green.  This  goes  on  for  six  or 
eight  weeks,  during  which  time  they  are  taught  to  lap 
milk  preparatory  to  being  weaned.  After  weaning  they 
live  first  on  milk  alone.  Later  they  may  find  a  bit  of 
nicely  cooked  oatmeal  in  the  bottom  of  the  pan,  to  which 
presently  is  added  a  bit  of  cooked  meat  chopped  fine.  A 
little  later  still,  meat  is  given  to  them  raw.  About  this 
time,  too,  the  huntsman  goes  out  to  call  on  farmers  or 
others  whom  he  thinks  may  take  a  puppy  to  walk.  Be- 
fore a  puppy  is  fit  to  wean,  he  is  carefully  tattooed  or 
marked  about  his  ears,  and  branded  on  his  side,  and  a  care- 


> 


-a 


'J2 


OJ 


> 


Hound  Breeding  17^ 

ful  record  is  made  of  these  brands,  together  with  his  colour, 
markings,  and  breeding.  Soon  after  he  is  weaned  some  of 
the  kennel  servants,  generally  some  superannuated  member 
of  the  hunt,  goes  out  with  a  load  of  puppies,  to  deliver 
them  into  the  aprons  of  kindly  disposed  farmers'  wives, 
who  for  the  year  to  come  adopt  them  into  the  circle  of 
their  domesticated  household,  to  feed  and  chastise  them  and 
bring  them  up  in  the  way  they  should  go.  A  look  at  the 
puppy  while  at  his  walk  shall  be  reserved  for  the  follow- 
ing chapter. 


XVI 
THE    HOUND    PUPPY    AT    WALK 


"  Then  drink,  puppy,  drink;  and  let  every  puppy  drink 
That  is  old  enough  to  lap  and  to  swallow; 
For  he  Ml  grow  into  a  hound; 
So  we  '11  pass  the  bottle  round. 
And  merrily  we  '11  whoop  and  we  '11  holloa." 

OLD    HUNTING    SONG 

"And  then,  after  dinner  we  found  him  asleep 
In  the  bedroom  up-stairs,  where  he  lay  in  a  heap 
On  the  bed,  which  he  covered  with  patches  of  dirt, — 
His  pillow  we  found  was  my  latest  new  shirt." 

RHYMES    IN    RED 


XVI 
THE    HOUND    PUPPY    AT   WALK 

AN      IMPORTANT      EVENT MISCHIEVOUS      PROPENSITIES KENNEL 

DISCIPLINE CUB-HUNTING 

HE  walk  is  a  very  important  part  of  the  life  of 
a  foxhound.  He  does  so  much  better  when 
he  has  the  range  of  a  whole  farm  instead 
simply  of  the  kennels,  where  distemper  and 
other  epidemics  are  sure  to  prevail,  that  it  is  regularly  a 
part  of  his  education.  Of  course  he  is  a  mischievous  brat, 
and  makes  no  end  of  trouble.  The  farmer  usually  con- 
siders it  better  to  take  a  pair  of  hounds  than  one  alone,  for 
when  they  are  chewing  away  at  each  other  they  do  less 
harm  than  one  of  them  would  do  chewing  the  farmer's 
sealskin  hat  or  Mrs.  Farmer's  fur  muff". 

The  first  year  of  a  puppy's  life,  at  walk  under  the  indul- 
gent care  of  Mrs.  Farmer  or  her  daughter,  he  surely  looks 
back  upon  as  one  of  the  most  enjoyable  periods  of  his 
eventful  career.  He  has  nothing  to  do  but  eat,  grow,  and 
be  merry.  A  litter  of  pigs  to  play  with  in  the  barn-yard, 
poultry  to  chase,  cats  to  worry,  perhaps  a  small  boy  for  a 
boon  companion  —  he  has  little  left  to  wish  for  in  life.  Of 
course  he  makes  the  farmer  swear  and  Madame  Farmer  de- 

179 


i8o     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

clare  she  will  never  again  allow  another  puppy  on  the 
place ;  to  which  her  spouse  answers :  "  Yes,  you  will ; 
the  huntsman  will  come  here  again  next  year,  drink  our 
cider,  stay  to  dinner,  compliment  your  coffee,  and  go  away 
and  send  us  another  pair."  Although  the  goodwife  denies 
that  she  was  caught  by  the  huntsman's  nice  speeches,  her 
husband  strictly  maintains  his  ground,  and  the  question  is 
dropped  with,  from  her :  "  We  shall  see.  This  last  puppy 
is  the  very  worst  one  we  ever  had."  But  as  she  has  been 
saying  this  for  years,  it  is  not  considered  worthy  of  a  reply. 
The  farmer  and  his  wife  seldom  renew  the  question,  but 
when  a  neighbour  calls,  the  first  topic  is  the  new  puppy. 
The  poor  woman  declares  that  "  everybody's  life  on  the 
farm  is  made  miserable  by  the  mischievous  brute,"  and  then 
goes  on  to  tell  the  latest  tricks  the  scamp  has  played — how 
he  stole  a  leg  of  mutton  as  they  were  sitting  down  to  din- 
ner ;  and  again,  one  day  when  the  presiding  elder  was  there 
to  dinner,  ate  up  the  custard  pudding  the  girl  had  set  in  the 
summer  kitchen  to  cool.  "Steal  ?  They  are  the  most 
rascally  set  of  thieves  out  of  prison.  Why,  that  puppy 
kills  more  chickens  and  goslings  every  year  than  all  the 
skunks  and  foxes  in  the  county  !  The  idea  of  growing  up 
a  foxhound  to  hunt  foxes  and  preserve  the  poultry  !  Steal  ! 
Why,  only  the  other  day  this  puppy  here  came  home  lug- 
ging a  neighbour's  door-mat  after  him.  And  the  butcher's 
wagon  came  along  one  day,  and  while  the  butcher  was 
delivering  a  pound  of  sausages  to  the  kitchen  door  the  little 
whelp  stole  a  whole  ham  out  of  his  wagon.  Served  him 
right  for  gossiping  with  the  hired  girl.  My  land  !  but  he 
was  mad  !      My  husband  took  him  in  and  gave  him  a  glass 


The  Hound  Puppy  at  Walk  i8i 

of  cider,  and  when  he  came  to  the  door  again  that  puppy 
came  running  up  with  a  leg  of  mutton.  '  Look  here,'  says 
the  butcher,  '  is  that  dog  trained  to  empty  my  wagon  for 
you  ? '" 

The  farmer,  too,  has  grievances.  He  has  spent  an  hour 
cleaning  his  overcoat,  spongeing  the  mud-stains  off,  and 
hanging  it  over  the  chair  to  dry  while  he  gets  ready  for 
church;  but  when  he  comes  to  put  it  on  it  is  nowhere  to 
be  found.  He  hears  a  noise  in  the  yard,  and  there  is  the 
puppy  dragging  it  through  the  mud,  shaking  and  snarling  at 
it  as  if  he  were  breaking  a  fox.  At  such  times  the  farmer 
is  apt  to  think  puppies  destroy  more  straw  hats  than  a 
whole  litter  is  worth,  not  to  mention  boots,  shoes,  slippers, 
rubbers,  and  lap-robes.  If  anything  from  an  almanac  to  a 
bedspread  is  missing  in  the  house,  if  anything  from  a  curry- 
comb to  a  horse-collar  is  missing  from  the  barn,  that  puppy 
did  it.  It  is  impossible  to  keep  the  children  clothed,  for 
they  will  play  with  the  puppies,  whose  teeth  are  as  sharp 
as  razors.  "The  puppies  are  an  awful  nuisance,"  the 
farmer  ends;  "but  Mr.  Master  of  Hounds  is  such  a  nice 
man !  He  sends  me  a  brace  of  partridges  or  something 
every  year  for  Christmas.  We  came  near  winning  the  cup 
he  offered  last  year,  too,  for  the  best-walked  puppy.  The 
huntsman  — and  he  is  a  nice  man,  too — said  if  we  had  not 
kept  the  puppy  quite  so  well  we  should  have  had  the  cup. 
Puppy  was  a  little  mite  too  fat,  he  said." 

But  although  the  puppy  makes  the  farmer  swear,  and  sets 
everybody  about  the  place  by  the  ears,  although  the  neigh- 
bours and  the  butcher  threaten  to  kill  him,  he  thrives 
under  it  all.     He  and  the  small  boy  who  grow  up  together  at 


I  82     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

least  understand  each  other;  and  indeed  all  love  him  per- 
haps the  better  for  the  trouble  he  has  given  them.  When, 
in  the  course  of  a  year,  say  in  April  or  May,  the  huntsman 
comes  to  take  him  up,  everybody  is  sorry  to  see  him  go. 
This  departure  from  the  farm  is  another  very  important 
and  trying  time  in  the  life  of  a  foxhound.  When  the 
hounds  arrive  at  the  kennels,  the  master  comes  out  to  look 
them  over,  and  this  day  drafts  all  those  who  show  crooked 
legs,  weak  joints,  coarse  heads,  throaty  necks,  weak  loins,  or 
any  other  blemishes.  Again  pedigrees  and  memoranda  are 
consulted.  Some  doubtful  puppies  may  have  another  trial 
on  account  of  pedigree  or  a  particular  fondness  the  master 
may  have  had  for  the  fathers  or  mothers.  All  the  lucky 
ones  are  kennelled  by  themselves,  and  the  indolent,  happy- 
go-lucky  days  of  puppyhood  are  at  an  end.  The  stern 
routine  of  the  life  of  a  foxhound  has  begun.  A  disconso- 
late set  the  puppies  are  at  this  time.  Some  refuse  to  eat 
until  starvation  finally  drives  them  to  it.  Homesickness 
actually  is  so  great  in  some  that  they  pine  and  die  of  it. 
Some  grow  morose,  and  quarrel  and  fight  and  even  kill  each 
other.  Such  fights  never  fail  to  bring  the  huntsman  to  the 
door,  and  the  offenders  feel  the  sting  of  his  double  thong  in 
a  way  they  will  be  a  long  time  forgetting.  Altogether 
their  treatment  now  is  a  very  different  thing  from  what 
Mrs.  Farmer  used  to  give  them.  The  poor  brutes  wish, 
no  doubt,  they  had  been  drafted  with  the  rubbish.  With 
harsh  words  and  continual  correction,  confined  day  and 
night  in  a  small  room,  obliged  to  sleep  on  hard  wooden 
benches — no  wonder  if  they  feel  like  felons.  Once  a  day 
some   one    comes   to   the    door  and   drafts   them   into  the 


1) 

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o 


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11 


The  Hound  Puppy  at  Walk  183 

feeding-room  one  at  a  time,  calling  each  by  name.  Some 
one  else  is  there  to  help  a  puppy  remember  what  his  or  her 
name  is.  "  Barmaid,  Barmaid,  Barmaid  !  "  each  time  louder 
than  before,  cries  the  kennel-huntsman.  The  timid  puppy 
starts,  hesitates,  runs  back,  gets  a  crack  of  the  assistant's 
lash,  and  in  she  goes. 

After  a  week  or  so  each  dog-puppy  is  coupled  to  a 
thoroughly  trained  bitch,  and  vice  versa,  and  they  go  out  for 
a  walk,  the  huntsman  and  whippers-in  going  with  them  on 
foot.  In  the  course  of  these  promenades  they  are  taken 
through  fields  in  which  sheep  are  grazing.  Any  tendency 
on  a  puppy's  part  to  chase  these  brings  correction  of  the 
severest  nature.  In  olden  days,  if  a  new-entry  hound  per- 
sisted at  all  in  going  after  a  flock  of  running  sheep  he  was 
coupled  with  a  stout  ram  and  dragged  about  the  fields,  or 
had  his  taste  for  sheep  butted  out  of  him  by  a  ram  who 
would  stand  his  ground.  After  a  few  weeks  of  this  exercise 
and  discipline,  the  coupling  is  removed,  and  the  huntsman 
and  whips  go  out  mounted.  This  daily  exercise  increases 
in  distance  until  time  for  cub-hunting. 

The  life  of  a  foxhound  is  generally  from  six  to  eight 
years,  four  or  five  seasons  of  work  in  the  hunting-field 
usually  finishing  him.  The  master's  heart  is  destined  to  be 
once  more  saddened  when  the  time  comes  to  dispose  of  his 
favourites  because  of  infirmities  or  old  age.  Occasionally 
some  favourite.  Bluebells  for  instance,  is  given  the  freedom 
of  the  place,  and  hangs  about  the  stables,  spending  her 
days  basking  in  the  sun  or  going  with  the  master  some- 
times when  he  takes  a  walk  ;  or  again  you  may  find  her 
sleeping  before  the  boiler-room  fire,  and  by  the  notes  that 


184    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

escape  her  musical  tongue,  the  convulsive  twitchings  of  her 
muscles,  you  know  she  is  running  a  fox  once  more  in  her 
dreams.  "  Dear  old  Bluebells  !  "  says  the  master,  looking 
fondly  down  on  her,  closing  the  door  softly,  so  as  not  to 
disturb  her,  when  he  goes  out. 

Cub-hunting  is  a  particularly  interesting  period  in  the 
life  of  a  foxhound.  Many  a  promising  puppy  has  finished 
his  career  with  one  or  two  trials.  He  may  be  a  magnifi- 
cent hound  in  every  way,  but  unable  to  control  his  tongue, 
or  run  mute,  or  skirt.  The  master  is  particularly  anxious 
during  these  days  as  to  how  his  new  entry  will  turn  out. 
Cub-hunting  itself  is  most  interesting  to  all  lovers  of  hound- 
work.  Its  drawback  is  that,  owing  to  the  dry,  hot  weather 
in  September,  scent  evaporates  or  disappears  so  early  in  the 
day  that  six  in  the  morning  is  as  late  as  it  can  be  expected 
to  be  followed.  This  means  being  called  at  half-past  four. 
To  a  real  sporting  man  the  reward  for  such  early  rising 
should  be  quite  sufficient,  although  I  confess  to  a  very  limited 
experience. 

By  the  first  of  September  the  youngsters  have  become 
quite  proficient  in  road  manners,  and  keep  well  "clustered, 
besides  showing  great  improvement  in  muscle.  Plenty  of 
road-walking  has  made  their  feet  tough,  but  as  yet  they 
have  never  been  blooded  to  the  game  they  are  to  hunt. 
They  have  much  to  learn  these  cub-hunting  days.  The 
inexperienced  puppy  drops  his  head  to  the  scent  of  a  rab- 
bit, a  squirrel,  a  skunk,  or  a  coon,  and  away  he  goes,  full  of 
fire  and  drive.  But  the  huntsman  knows  it  is  not  a  fox, 
for  the  old  hounds  have  hunted  the  ground  over  and  said 
nothing  about  it ;  and   Puppy  is  rebuked.      Next  a  rabbit 


The  Hound  Puppy  at  Walk  185 

jumps  up  in  front  of  him,  and  he  takes  after  it  like  a  shot. 
But  the  whipper-in  takes  after  him,  and  "  Ware  rabbit ! 
Ware  rabbit !  "  he  shouts,  the  thong  of  his  hunting-crop 
sinking  into  the  puppy's  very  flesh.  Puppy,  humiliated, 
sneaks  back  to  join  his  fellows,  with  a  look  of  reproach  at 
the  huntsman.  He  was  trying  so  hard  to  do  his  best  ! 
The  instinct  for  hunting  has  been  bred  in  him  for  the  last 
two  hundred  years,  and  now  when  he  is  brought  into  the 
woods  he  is  flogged  unmercifully.  He  sulks  along  while 
the  cut  smarts,  but  presently  a  reliable  hound  hits  off  the 
line. 

"  Hark  to  Pedro  !  Hark  to  Pedro!  On,  Barman  !  On, 
my  beauty !  " 

Thus  addressed  by  the  cheery  cry  of  the  huntsman. 
Puppy's  spirit  revives.  He  joins  the  others,  gets  a  whiff  of 
the  fox's  line,  and  away  goes  his  tongue  in  a  joyous  shout 
as  he  drives  at  it  with  might  and  main. 

Soon  the  sagacious  brute,  his  curling  tail 
Flourlsh'd  in  air,  low-bending  plies  around 
His  busy  nose,  the  steaming  vapour  snufFs 
Inquisitive,  nor  leaves  one  turf  untried, 
Till,  conscious  of  the  recent  stains,  his  heart 
Beats  quick  ;  his  snuffling  nose,  his  active  tail. 
Attest  his  joy  ;  then  with  deep-opening  mouth. 
That  makes  the  welkin  tremble,  he  proclaims 
Th'  audacious  felon  ;  foot  by  foot  he  marks 
His  winding  way,  while  all  the  list'ning  crowd 
Applaud  his  reas'nings. 

On  the  outside  another  young  entry  catches  the  stronger 
line  of  a  rabbit,  and  goes  after  it  with  clamourous  tongue, 


i86    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

taking  three  or  four  youngsters  with  him.  But  he  has 
not  gone  a  rod  before  crack. !  crack  !  goes  the  whipper-in's 
crop,  like  the  report  of  a  gun,  straight  at  the  false  leader's 
side.  "  Ware  rabbit,  Puppy  !  Ware  rabbit  !  "  A  few  strides 
of  the  spur-pricked  mount  places  the  whipper-in  in  posi- 
tion to  head  the  puppies  off,  and  the  tooting  horn  of  the 
huntsman  calls  them  back  to  the  line  of  the  hunted  fox. 

So  the  day  is  spent  breaking  in  the  new  entry,  permitting 
them  to  kill  two  or  three  cubs,  to  get  the  young  hounds 
well  blooded.  But  this  is  only  half  the  object  of  cub- 
hunting.  The  young  foxes  need  educating  as  well  as  the 
hounds.  The  first  covert  drawn  is  one  where  there  is  sure 
to  be  a  litter,  and  one  object,  so  far  as  the  young  foxes  are 
concerned,  is  to  bustle  them  about,  so  that  when  the  regular 
season  opens  and  they  hear  hounds  coming,  they  will  break 
covert  quickly.  No  sportsman  likes  to  hear  of  hounds 
"  chopping  "  a  fox  in  covert.  They  desire  to  give  him 
plenty  of  law,  a  very  generous  start,  and  then  catch  him  if 
they  can.  It  is  not  sport  to  take  game  at  a  disadvantage. 
To  the  genuine  sportsman  it  is  something  shocking  to  see 
a  man  hunting  rabbits  with  a  ferret.  The  ferret  is  sent  into 
the  burrow,  out  bolts  the  rabbit,  and  the  gunner  with  a  shot- 
gun at  the  mouth  of  the  hole  blows  the  top  of  bunny's  head 
off.  Or  he  gets  some  blank  cartridges  and  a  hundred  feet 
of  fuse,  fastens  the  fuse  to  a  cartridge,  and  with  a  piece  of 
wire  rams  the  cartridge  in  a  burrow.  Bang!  goes  the 
cartridge,  and  out  bolts  the  rabbit  or  fox  to  certain  death. 
Shame  on  the  men  who  call  this  sport !  They  are  not 
sportsmen,  but  butchers.  Sportsmen  of  this  calibre  ought 
to  go  home,  rope  an  ox,  draw  him  on  the  barn  floor,  and 


ri 

u 


J3 


M 


The  Hound  Puppy  at  Walk.  187 

knock  him  on  the  head  with  an  axe.  It  would  be  the 
same  kind  of  thing.  "  Was  the  bird  flying  from  you,  or 
across  or  toward  you,  when  you  hit  it  ? "  asks  the  father  of 
his  son  who  comes  running  to  him  with  his  first  partridge. 
"  He  was  sitting  on  the  ground,"  repHes  the  delighted  boy. 
"  Sitting  on  the  ground  !  "  roars  his  father.  "  Sitting  on 
the  ground  !  Never  let  me  hear  of  your  doing  such  an 
unsportsmanlike  thing  again.  Always  give  the  bird  a 
chance,  my  boy.  If  he  does  n't  get  up,  frighten  him  up. 
Then,  it  you  are  clever  enough  to  drop  him,  there  is  some 
credit  in  the  shot."  Such  should  be  one  of  any  boy's  first 
lessons.  But  a  great  deal  of  this  butcher  business  goes  on 
in  America,  for  one  reason  or  another.  A  man  is  not  sat- 
isfied to  catch  fish  by  the  skilful  throwing  of  a  fly,  but  must 
buy  a  net  or  explode  a  charge  of  dynamite  in  the  bottom 
of  the  pool,  and  pick  up  the  murdered  fish  as  they  float  to 
the  surface.      And  they  call  this  sport ! 

But  ware  fish,  author,  ware  fish  !  and  get  on  with  your 
fox.  As  I  was  saying,  no  fox-hunter  likes  mobbing  a  fox  in 
covert,  and  so  it  is  necessary  to  give  the  youngsters  a  lesson 
in  breaking  away.  They  start  one  fox  out,  give  him  a 
good  scare  with  hounds  after  him,  and  when  he  is  well  out 
of  covert  they  call  off  the  hounds  to  bustle  out  some  more. 

No  one  has  better  described  cub-hunting  than  Somer- 
ville  in  "The  Chase,"  that  epic  of  the  hunt  from  which 
we  have  already  borrowed  more  than  once  to  enrich  our 
own  pictures : 

Easy  the  lessons  of  the  youthful  train 

When  instinct  prompts  and  when  example  guides. 

If  the  too  forward  younker,  at  the  head, 


1 88     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

Press  boldly  on,  in  wanton,  sportive  mood. 
Correct  his  haste,  and  let  him  feel,  abash'd. 
The  ruling  whip.      But  if  he  stoop  behind. 
In  wary  modest  guise,  to  his  own  nose 
Confiding  sure,  give  him  full  scope  to  work 
His  winding  way,  and  with  thy  voice  applaud 
His  patience  and  his  care  ;  soon  shalt  thou  view 
The  hopeful  pupil  leader  of  his  tribe. 
While  all  the  listening  pack  attend  his  call. 


XVII 
THE    FOX 


"  The  wily  fox. 
Safe  in  the  increasing  number  of  his  foes. 
Kens  well  the  great  advantage;  shrinks  behind. 
And  slily  creeps  through  the  same  beaten  tracit, 
And  hunts  them  step  by  step;   then  views,  escaped. 
With  inward  ecstasy,  the  panting  throng 
In  their  own  footsteps  puzzled,  foiled,  and  lost." 

SOMERVILLE 


XVII 
THE  FOX 

THE      FOX     COMPARED     WITH     OTHER    GAME HUNTING    THE     WILD 

RED    DEER A    PATHETIC    END RENARD's    CRAFTY    NATURE 

(HE  drag  is  but  a  mimicry  of  hunting,  the  crated 
stag  is  but  little  better,  the  bag-fox  an  abomi- 
nation savouring  too  much  of  the  butcher. 
Hare  and  otter-hunting  are  good,  clean 
sport.  The  hunting  of  the  wild  red  deer  in  Devon  and 
of  the  wild  stag  and  the  wild  boar  in  France  are  thoroughly- 
honourable  and  sportsmanlike.  The  woodcraft  of  the  har- 
bourer,  the  rare  skill  of  the  huntsman  in  singling  out  a 
warrantable  stag  or  hind,  are  a  display  of  natural  wit  and 
cunning  beautiful  to  see.  It  is  a  glorious  thing,  riding  to 
staghounds,  to  note  the  wonderful  instinct  of  the  huntsman 
in  lifting  them  smartly  on  to  the  line  when  they  are  at 
fault.  But  for  every-day  hunting  there  is  nothing  that 
quite  comes  up  to  the  chase  of  the  wild  fox. 

There  is  never,  in  the  chase  after  Renard,  the  feeling 
that  you  are  pursuing  to  its  death  a  harmless  and  innocent 
creature.  The  fox  is  a  vagabond.  If  he  was  not  at  work 
stealing  your  chickens  last  night,  it  was  because  he  was  steal- 
ing your  neighbour's,  or  came  across  a  rabbit  that  diverted 

191 


192     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

him  on  the  way  to  your  coop.  There  is  something  of 
retribution  in  his  being  killed.  On  the  other  hand,  I  shall 
never  recall  without  a  shudder  the  death  of  the  first  hind 
I  saw  taken  by  the  Devon  and  Somerset  staghounds. 

She  had  given  us  a  glorious  run  of  fourteen  or  fifteen 
miles  to  Bristol  Channel,  to  which  waters  her  instinct  had 
led  her  as  the  best  way  of  escape  from  her  pursuers.  When 
we  arrived  on  the  coast,  at  the  point  where  the  hind 
had  jumped  over  a  steep  precipice  and  taken  to  the  sea,  there 
was  a  heavy  fog  resting  on  the  waters,  and  the  chase 
seemed  ended. 

Presently,  however,  the  fog  lifted,  and  there,  standing  on 
a  rock  a  quarter  of  a  mile  or  more  to  sea,  was  the  hind, 
the  most  beautiful  picture  I  ever  beheld.  Over  her  hung 
a  canopy  of  mist;  the  surf  of  an  incoming  tide  was  break- 
ing into  the  whitest  foam  at  her  feet.  Steadily  the  tide 
crept  up  on  the  rock  where  she  stood,  every  succeeding 
breaker  increasing  the  depth  of  water  about  her.  There 
she  stood  like  a  stranded  mariner,  awaiting  the  death  that 
must  ultimately  overtake  her.  She  began  to  look  long- 
ingly toward  the  shore  and  the  frowning  peaks  of  the 
Quantock  Hills,  her  home,  to  which  she  was  never  to 
return.  For  a  time  her  attention  was  called  to  the  passing 
of  a  ship  not  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  where  she  stood, 
curiosity  for  a  moment  absorbing  her  as  she  watched  it 
with  forgetful  interest.  What  a  picture !  More  than  an 
hour  we  waited  and  watched,  during  which  time  the 
hounds  were  taken  out  of  sight.  It  was  hoped  she  would 
come  to  shore  and  make  for  the  hills;  but  still  she  lingered, 
with  the  incoming  tide  rising  all  about  her,  and  huntsmen 


The  Fox  193 

waiting  for  her  on  the  banks.  Now  the  waves  reached 
her  body,  and  she  looked  startled  and  seemed  to  read  her 
doom  in  every  succeeding  billow.  She  made  a  move  irreso- 
lutely toward  the  shore,  halted,  and  moved  again.  Care- 
fully she  felt  her  way  down  the  slippery  rock  till  finally  the 
sea  closed  over  her  back  and  she  could  be  descried  swim- 
ming for  shore.  Reaching  the  beach,  she  walked  out  again 
a  bit  to  free  herself  from  the  breakers,  and  rested  there  for 
ten  or  fifteen  minutes  longer.  The  huntsmen  meanwhile, 
with  five  or  six  couples  of  the  most  trusty  hounds,  went 
down  to  the  water  some  distance  above  her,  with  a  view  to 
getting  between  her  and  the  sea.  She  saw  them  coming, 
but  the  cold  March  wind  had  evidently  chilled  her  to  the 
marrow ;  she  moved  with  stiffened  gait  along  the  shore 
until  she  came  to  a  great  boulder,  behind  which  she  stole 
cautiously,  and  lay  down  in  a  pool  of  water  left  by  the  last 
tide  in  a  hollow  of  the  rocks.  A  moment  later  the  hounds 
hit  off  her  trail,  and  in  another  instant  the  lot  of  them  were 
upon  her. 

To  me,  unaccustomed  as  I  was,  it  gave  a  sickening  feel- 
ing, despite  its  novelty  and  interest.  I  can  best  express 
myself  in  the  characteristic  language  of  an  American  girl 
after  her  first  ride  down  the  great  toboggan  slide  at  Mon- 
treal. "I  would  n't  have  missed  it  for  a  thousand  dollars," 
she  said,  "  but  I  would  n't  go  through  it  again  for  two  thou- 
sand." Perhaps  there  is  nothing  like  getting  used  to  a 
thing ;  perhaps  if  I  hunted  year  after  year  with  these 
famous  hounds  I  should  become  hardened  to  such  specta- 
cles; perhaps  the  wild  red  deer,  killed  by  these  hounds  to 
the  number  of  one  hundred  every  season,  become  at  last, 


194    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

like  the  old  lady's  eels,  accustomed  to  being  skinned.  But 
I  have  had  several  days  vv^ith  these  hounds  since  that  first 
one,  and  somehow  I  doubt  it. 

Let  us  hark  back  to  our  fox,  that  cunning,  evasive  thief 
of  the  night.  Any  one  can  see  him  broken  with  little 
feeling  of  compassion,  knowing  that  the  untimely  death  of 
Mrs.  Farmer's  goslings  has  been  avenged.  As  he  hunts 
the  hare  and  the  rabbit,  he  has  no  reason  to  complain  if  he 
is  hunted  too.  What  is  more,  he  is  not  a  good  sportsman. 
He  pounces  upon  his  prey  by  stealth,  while  for  him  hounds 
are  kept  back  to  give  him  a  good  start,  and  the  music  of 
their  cries,  the  shouts  of  the  huntsmen,  the  clatter  of  the 
galloping  steeds,  all  leave  him  less  and  less  excuse  to  say  that 
he  has  not  been  fairly  dealt  with.  He  usually  gets  away  on 
an  even  footing,  and  has  about  even  chances  of  saving  his 
brush  for  another  day.  There  are,  indeed,  always  a  few  old 
ringers  in  every  hunt  country  that  seem  to  welcome  the 
coming  of  the  clamourous  pack  as  if  it  were  a  game  of 
hide-and-seek  or  blindman's-buff.  But  most  of  them  are 
sly.  When  you  see  one  sneaking  along  a  fence  after  play- 
ing a  clever  trick  on  the  hounds,  you  have  an  eager  desire  to 
run  the  rascal  down.  No,  there  is  an  indescribable  some- 
thing about  the  pursuit  of  a  fox  that  fires  the  blood  of  a 
hunting  man  as  does  that  of  no  other  game.  Shooting 
partridge,  quail,  or  pheasants  over  a  couple  of  well-trained 
pointers  is  very  keen  sport,  I  allow.  Wild-turkey  shooting 
in  Michigan,  going  after  wild  ducks  and  geese  in  New 
Brunswick,  stalking  deer  in  Maine  or  caribou  and  moose  in 
Nova  Scotia,  are  most  thrilling.  But  none  of  these  animals 
make  you  want  to  get  at  them  so  badly,  or  rather  I  might 


The  Fox  195 

better  say  so  madly,  as  the  fox.  Every  hunting  man  feels 
this,  but  words  to  express  the  feeling  fully  are  yet  to  be 
invented.  Some  men  who  are  as  steady  as  a  church  at 
bird  or  big  game  shooting  fairly  lose  themselves  at  the 
sight  of  a  travelling  fox.  There  is  something  about  his 
stealthy  way  of  going,  as  if  he  were  a  thief,  something 
about  his  whole  carriage,  that  proclaims  the  rogue  and 
makes  men  shout  themselves  hoarse  and  ache  to  throw 
their  hunting-crops  or  hats  at  him.  They  will  ride  their 
best  hunter  nearly  to  death  to  keep  in  sight  of  him.  All 
this,  however,  is  lost  with  a  bag-fox;  and,  as  some  one  has 
pointed  out,  none  of  it  at  all  would  arise  at  the  sight  of  a 
fox  chained  to  a  stake  in  some  one's  yard.  But  directly 
hounds  give  tongue  in  a  genuine  hunt,  your  spirits  are  up 
and  your  interest  grows  apace  in  the  game.  For  every 
card  the  rascal  plays  you  know,  so  to  speak,  he  has  still  an 
ace  or  a  king  up  his  sleeve.  A  glimpse  is  had  of  the  sly 
little  devil  as  he  moves  along  in  a  furrow,  casting  his  eyes 
behind  him  with  the  cold,  calculating  glance  of  a  money- 
lender. "  There  he  goes,  damn  him  !  "  cries  the  deacon  of 
the  First  Baptist  Church,  who  was  never  known  to  swear 
before, —  and  did  not  know  he  did  then, —  as  he  puts  spurs 
to  his  horse  and  races  after  as  if  he  were  running  down  a 
desperado. 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  greatest  zeal  for  fox- 
hunting, as  in  other  kinds  of  hunting,  comes  from  a 
knowledge  of  the  animal  hunted,  and  is  increased  by  a 
study  of  his  ways.  It  always  seems  to  me  that  men  who 
hunt  to  ride  miss  this  point  and  the  spirit  of  the  chase  al- 
together.    Their  pleasure  consists    in    outriding   the  field, 


196     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

and  if  they  fail  in  this  they  go  home  disappointed.  Not 
so  the  hunting  man.  His  heart  is  in  the  game.  Those 
who  hunt  to  ride  may  as  well  follow  a  drag  or  ride  a 
steeplechase.  The  hunting  man  has  all  this  pleasure,  and 
the  enjoyment  of  the  hunting  as  well.  Pardon  my  recur- 
ring so  often  to  this  point.  I  am  only  anxious  to  give  the 
novice  a  start  right,  which  is  not  likely  to  be  the  case  unless 
he  is  quite  familiar  with  the  game.  It  will  not  be  amiss, 
therefore,  to  devote  a  little  more  space  in  the  next  chapter 
to  "  The  Fox  and  his  Ways." 


XVIII 
THE    FOX    AND    HIS    WAYS 


"The  farmer,  who  beholds  his  mortal  foe 
Stretch'd  at  his  feet,  applauds  the  glorious  deed. 
And,  grateful,  calls  us  to  a  short  repast: 
In  the  full  glass  the  liquid  amber  smiles. 
Our  native  product;  and  his  good  old  mate 
With  choicest  viands  heaps  the  liberal  board." 

SOMERVILLE 


XVIII 
THE   FOX    AND    HIS    WAYS 

BREEDING     SEASON FIRST     LESSONS     IN     CRAFT     CUNNING WHAT 

THE    EARTH-STOPPER    SAYS WHAT    THE    FARMER 

AND    HIS    WIFE    SAY 

HE  fox's  mating  season  in  America  varies 
somewhat  according  to  latitude.  January  is 
in  most  regions  the  month  for  courting.  In 
these  days  the  dog-foxes  travel  great  distances 
with  a  view  to  finding  a  vixen  in  every  way  worthy  to 
become  the  mother  of  the  most  crafty  foxes  that  ever  lived. 
The  general  belle  and  favourite,  no  doubt,  is  she  who  has 
the  best  record  for  fooling  the  hounds.  The  most  success- 
ful chicken-thief  comes  next,  perhaps,  in  popularity. 

Simpson,  the  earth-stopper,  says  the  cry  of  the  vixen  at 
this  season  is  something  to  make  even  "  an  old  stager  like 
me  creep  all  over,  so  weird  and  human-like  is  the  sound." 
It  is  sure  to  remind  Simpson,  as  does  everything  else  you 
may  mention,  of  the  battle  of  Gettysburg. 

The  vixen  is  with  cub  only  nine  weeks,  and  has  but 
one  litter  a  year.  About  the  first  of  April  there  is  many  a 
happy  fox-mother.  April  Fools'  Day  is  the  appropriate 
day   when   cubs  are  apt  to   come  into   the  world,  which 

199 


2  00    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

perhaps  accounts  for  the  fooHng  proclivities  of  the  Re- 
nard  family. 

If  hounds  break  cover  with  a  vixen  during  these  domes- 
tic affairs  of  the  fox  family  after,  say,  the  middle  of 
January,  they  are  called  off,  and  madame  from  that  time 
on  is  shown  every  consideration.  She  gets  a  bit  of  an 
ousting  now  and  then  until  her  sex  is  discovered,  and  this 
is  no  doubt  very  good  for  the  future  generation,  for  their 
mothers  may  thus  be  able  to  transmit  a  bit  of  instinc- 
tive knowledge  about  foxhounds  that  the  foxes  of  an 
earlier  generation  had  to  learn  by  hard  experience.  There 
has  been  considerable  discussion  among  hunting  men  as  to 
whether  foxes  are  keener  game  now  than  they  were  forty 
or  fifty  years  ago.  A  comparison  of  the  number  killed 
and  of  the  length  of  runs  would  indicate  that  they  are  not. 
We  must  consider,  however,  that  foxhounds  have  steadily 
improved,  and  horses  as  well,  so  that  it  need  not  follow 
from  statistics  that  foxes  have  lost  their  cunning.  On  the 
contrary,  they,  as  well  as  the  hounds,  are  likely  to  have 
grown  in  stoutness  and  stamina. 

Now  come  the  planning  and  arrangement  of  the  new 
home.  In  the  course  of  time  a  suitable  lying-in  room  is 
arranged  on  the  ground  floor,  which  apartment  madame 
arranges  to  suit  herself.  It  is  said  that  a  vixen  gives  birth 
to  her  cubs  outside  of  the  earth,  and  then  moves  in,  bag  and 
baggage.  Her  lord  and  master  basks  in  the  sun  on  a 
southern  exposure  of  the  covert  by  day,  but  at  night  goes 
forth  to  replenish  the  larder,  leaving  madame  to  devote  her 
time  to  her  household  duties  and  prepare  for  the  coming 
event. 


The  Fox  and  his  Ways         -       201 

Hounds  are  said  not  to  follow  a  vixen  heavy  with  cub. 
Perhaps  it  is  a  certain  sportsmanlike  instinct  among  wild 
animals  that  prevents  their  killing  their  prey  under  such 
circumstances.  One  explanation  is  that  the  scent  left  by 
expectant  mothers  is  too  weak  to  be  followed,  or  changes 
so  as  to  be  no  longer  recognisable.  In  either  case  a  wise 
provision  of  nature  seems  to  interfere  in  their  behalf.  I 
believe  I  have  seen  it  somewhere  recorded  that  hounds,  if 
they  come  upon  a  vixen  heavy  with  cub,  will,  of  their  own 
free  will,  not  break  her.  I  have  either  been  told  or 
have  read  of  instances  where  hounds,  having  overtaken  and 
killed  their  fox,  but  finding  it  a  vixen  heavy  with  cub, 
have  left  it  alone,  and  have  been  found  lying  about  the 
corpse  with  no  apparent  eagerness  to  taste  her  blood.  I 
quote  also  the  following  from  Thomas  Smith's  charming 
book  "The  Life  of  a  Fox  as  Told  by  a  Fox  "  :  "I  heard 
the  hounds  running  a  fox  close  to  me,  which  they  very 
soon  lost,  as  they  could  not  or  would  not  hunt  it.  I  thought 
this  very  strange,  as  by  the  use  of  my  nose  I  knew  it  was  a 
good  scenting  day  ;  but  it  turned  out  that  the  fox  was  a 
vixen  who  had  just  laid  up  her  cubs,  the  effect  of  which 
generally  is  to  make  the  scent  so  different  that  hounds,  old 
ones  particularly,  appear  to  know  it  as  if  by  instinct  and 
will  not  hunt  it." 

One  fine  day  madame  sends  her  husband  to  a  human  neigh- 
bour's where,  she  tells  him,  he  will  find  a  nice  fat  turkey 
that  Mrs.  Farmer  has  neglected  to  lock  up  for  the  night. 
This  is  simply  a  joke,  and  the  unsuspicious  husband,  when 
he  returns,  finds  a  surprise  for  him.  Four,  six,  or  even 
eight  cubs  have  come  to  "  bless  the  union  "  of  himself  and 


202     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

his  spouse,  as  the  old-time  biographers  would  say.  They 
have  been  left  in  the  earth  by  a  passing  angel,  madame 
explains.  Her  husband  forgets  the  scolding  he  had  pre- 
pared for  her  for  sending  him  on  a  foors  errand,  and  goes 
off  and  kills  a  farmer's  lamb  to  celebrate  the  event.  The 
good  Lord  keeps  the  cubbies'  eyes  darkened  for  ten  days,  or 
they  might  wander  away  from  the  fireside  and  perish,  and 
madame  has  stored  up  a  good  supply  of  fat  on  her  own  body, 
from  whence  her  babies  may  draw  should  the  larder  run 
low.  The  same  over-ruling  Providence,  as  Mr.  Thomas 
Smith's  fox  points  out,  brings  the  family  into  the  world  at 
a  season  of  the  year  when  their  favourite  food,  young  rab- 
bits and  beetles,  is  most  abundant.  Not  only  is  no  vixen 
ever  hunted  in  these  days,  but  some  huntsmen  maintain 
that  no  dog-fox  should  be  hunted  after  the  first  of  April,  as 
madame  needs  him  to  do  odd  chores  about  the  house  and 
assist  in  keeping  the  supply  of  food  sufficient  for  the  increas- 
ing wants  of  the  family. 

It  is  generally  believed  that  the  dog-fox  may  be  distin- 
guished from  the  vixen  by  the  white  tip  on  the  end  of  his 
brush.  The  fox  above  quoted  says  this  is  not  an  infallible 
sign,  however.  "  I,  a  dog-fox,"  he  says,  "and  one  of  my 
brothers,  and  also  one  of  my  sisters,  had  it  [the  white  tip], 
whilst  the  other  sister  and  the  other  brother  were  alto- 
gether without  it,  not  having  a  single  white  hair.  My 
brother  has  been  known  to  profit  by  the  exception  when 
on  being  viewed  in  the  spring  of  the  year  the  hounds  have 
been  stopped  with  the  remark,  '  It  is  a  vixen ;  there  is  no 
white  in  her  brush.'  I  have  since  observed  that  old  male 
foxes  are  of  a  much  lighter  colour  on  the  back  than  are 


The  Fox  and  his  Ways  203 

the  old  females,  which  are  commonly  of  a  dark,  reddish 
brown." 

The  white  tip  on  a  vixen,  I  believe,  is  the  exception  to 
the  rule,  but,  however  that  may  be,  the  ladies  are  easily 
distinguished  —  if  you  can  get  near  enough  to  note  —  by 
their  size  and  especially  by  their  more  sharply  pointed 
noses.  The  question  of  colour,  especially  of  shade,  is  a 
very  uncertain  one ;  it  not  only  varies  in  the  same  litter, 
but,  to  some  extent,  with  the  change  of  coat  and  season. 

Soon  after  the  cubs'  eyes  open,  they  are  brought  to  the 
mouth  of  the  earth  and  given  their  first  lessons  in  diving 
back  into  this  harbour  of  safety  at  the  slightest  noise. 
Later,  if  the  earth  is  in  any  way  disturbed,  they  are  moved 
usually  some  distance  away,  and  after  that  are  kennelled 
out  of  doors.  They  are  carried  by  the  mother  just  as  a 
domestic  cat  moves  her  kittens,  one  at  a  time,  lifted  by  the 
nape  of  the  neck.  In  this  way  a  vixen  will  sometimes 
move  a  whole  family  several  miles  during  a  single  night. 
Beetles  and  mice  and  later  a  young  rabbit  are  brought  in, 
which  mother  proceeds  to  break  in  truly  workmanlike 
manner,  dividing  quite  fairly.  Simpson,  the  earth-stopper, 
tells  me  madame  is  very  particular  in  these  divisions  of  her 
spoil,  never  taking  a  mouthful  of  it  herself,  but  devoting 
all  her  time  and  energy  to  teaching  etiquette  to  her  family. 
Such  a  meal  is  generally  consumed  at  some  little  distance 
from  the  home.  The  cubs,  who  have  been  waiting  and 
playing  about  the  earth  until  their  mother's  return,  at  a 
call  from  her  rush  away  to  meet  her,  and  are  then,  perhaps, 
taken  still  farther  away  to  some  secluded  spot  that  she 
knows  of,  before  the  fare  is  served.      On  no  account  must  a 


204    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

bit  of  fur  or  feather  be  found  about  the  earth.  Gypsies 
are  not  more  careful  of  observing  this  rule  than  a  vixen- 
fox.  After  a  meal  of  this  sort  the  brood  go  back  to  the 
mouth  of  the  earth,  and  top  off  their  dinner  with  a  dessert 
from  the  maternal  store,  madame  looking  proudly  on  while 
they  frolic  and  play  about  her,  darting  into  the  earth  now 
and  again  at  some  real  or  imaginary  noise. 

The  amount  of  assistance  madame  gets  from  her  hus- 
band these  days  is  a  matter  much  disputed.  Some  earth- 
stoppers  maintain  that  he  gives  none  whatever  ;  others,  like 
Simpson,  that  she  is  much  assisted  by  the  "  old  man  "; 
and  if  vixen  is  killed,  Simpson  declares,  he  takes  up  her 
household  duties  as  well  as  he  can. 

Cannon,  an  earth-stopper  to  the  Quorn  Hunt,  with 
whom  I  once  had  a  night  tramp,  says  foxes  are  not  so 
wicked  as  they  are  painted.  "  It  is,"  he  says,  "  only  when 
the  master  of  a  family  has  been  killed,  and  madame  is 
unfortunate  in  hunting  rabbits,  and  becomes  desperate  and 
reckless  of  her  own  safety,  that  she  resorts  to  stealing  poul- 
try and  young  lambs."  This  view  seems  rather  extreme. 
But  possibly  the  diversity  of  opinion  among  earth-stoppers 
and  hunting  men  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  there  are  foxes 
and  foxes.  One  thing  is  certain  :  sometimes  they  will  take 
away  a  single  lamb  or  hen,  and  again  they  will  kill  twenty 
hens  in  a  single  night,  hardly  tasting  their  flesh.  This,  the 
earth-stopper  says,  is  the  work  of  a  dog-fox  who  is  out  for 
a  lark  and  not  to  satisfy  hunger.  Simpson  declares  that  a 
fox  never  steals  a  chicken  or  a  lamb  from  the  farmer  on 
whose  farm  the  earth  is  laid,  but  will  go  a  long  distance 
from  home  to  the  neighbourhood  of  some  other  fox,  who 


The  Fox  and  his  Ways  205 

he  is  quite  willing  should  be  trapped  or  shot  for  the 
offence.  Some  things  one  hears  from  earth-stoppers  are 
quite  suggestive  of  fairy-tales,  but  the  cunning  of  a  fox  is 
so  well  understood  that  it  is  quite  easy  to  believe  almost 
anything. 

That  the  fox  tracks  rabbits  by  scent,  as  he  himself 
is  tracked  by  the  hounds,  is  shown  by  following  both 
their  tracks  over  wet  and  muddy  fallows  or  on  snow.  It  is 
from  the  rabbit,  perhaps,  that  the  fox  learns  many  a  trick, 
for  a  rabbit  can  give  even  a  fox  points  in  dodging.  If  you 
wish  to  see  the  prettiest  exhibition  of  hound  work  in  the 
world,  you  should  watch  a  pack  of  harriers  or  beagles  fol- 
lowing the  line  of  puss.  The  proverbial  Chinese  puzzle  is 
easy  in  comparison. 

Of  course  no  farmer  with  any  self-respect  would  shoot 
or  trap  a  fox  in  a  hunting  country;  on  the  contrary, 
farmers  are  very  proud  of  having  a  litter  of  cubs  laid 
upon  their  farms,  and  do  all  they  can  to  protect  them  and 
see  that  they  are  not  disturbed.  Every  earth  in  a  hunt- 
ing district  is  known  to  the  earth-stopper,  and  if  a  litter  of 
foxes  known  to  have  been  laid  on  a  certain  farm  is  not 
found  there  at  cub-hunting  time,  it  is  a  humiliating  state  of 
things  to  the  farmer  who  values  the  good  opinion  of  the 
County.  When  such  things  do  happen  in  England,  the 
owner  of  the  covert  not  at  all  infrequently  sends  to  London 
and  buys  a  fox  or  two  to  turn  loose  in  his  covert  just  be- 
fore they  are  to  be  drawn.  Nothing  could  cause  a  farmer 
more  chagrin  than  the  finding  of  a  trap  on  his  farm. 
Altogether  the  fox  is  the  most  favoured  and  pampered  wild 
animal  on  the  farm. 


2o6    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

Once  when  I  was  visiting  my  friend  Mr.  R.  Kirkham  in 
Lincolnshire,  he  took  me  one  day  back  on  his  farm  to  see 
a  litter  of  cubs  that  he  was  very  proud  of.  He  was  afraid, 
however,  the  vixen  was  not  a  good  milker,  for  the  cubs  did 
not  seem  to  be  doing  as  well  as  he  thought  they  should. 
Perhaps,  he  added,  Mrs.  Fox  may  have  been  left  a  widow  ; 
so  we  took  with  us  a  basin  of  chicken  bones  and  scraps 
of  meat,  and  left  them  at  the  poor  vixen's  door. 

"  I  don't  want  to  do  this  sort  of  thing  too  much,"  he 
said  apologetically,  probably  because  the  pan  was  not  full. 
"  It  won't  do  to  encourage  idleness,  you  know.  Foxes,  to 
be  kept  in  good  health,  must  have  work.  Besides,  I  want 
them  to  be  very  fit  when  the  hunting  season  opens,  so  as  to 
give  us  the  run  of  the  season." 

Such  are  the  sentiments  of  an  English  tenant-farmer, 
who  seldom  rides  to  hounds  himself  but  who  is  the  right 
sort  nevertheless.  Mr.  Kirkham  gives  a  most  interesting 
account  of  the  habits  of  foxes ;  he  has  evidently  spent  con- 
siderable time  in  looking  after  the  widows. 

"I  often  come  up  here  to  see  how  they  are  getting  on," 
he  says,  "and  sometimes  I  am  able  to  steal  up  and  get  a 
sight  of  them  playing  about  the  earth  like  a  lot  of  kittens. 
One  will  pretend  to  be  dead.  He  lies  stretched  out,  ap- 
parently cold  and  stiff  as  a  corpse,  and  with  his  eyes  closed, 
though  I  think  he  keeps  them  a  wee  crack  open.  The 
breeze  plays  with  his  hair,  and  altogether  there  never  was  an 
act  done  truer  to  life,  or,  I  should  say,  death.  Seeing  this, 
another  cub  approaches  cautiously,  when  up  springs  the 
dead  one,  and  the  pair  clinch  and  roll  over  in  a  good- 
natured  wrestling  match.     This  is  only  the  rehearsal  of  the 


The  Fox  and  his  Ways  207 

way  in  which  they  will  afterward  fool  some  silly  old 
goose  whose  curiosity  gets  the  better  of  her  judgment.  Then 
they  will  chase  each  other.  The  leader,  springing  to  one 
side,  lies  flat  until  the  other,  unprepared  for  the  dodge, 
rushes  past,  and  the  pursued  rushes  back  to  the  earth.  This 
is  their  trump  trick,  and  the  one  that  more  than  any  other 
saves  their  lives  when  pressed  by  hounds.  As  the  cubs  get 
a  little  older,  Madame  Fox  takes  one  or  two  at  a  time  with 
her  on  a  hunting  expedition.  She  seems  to  think  her  years 
of  practical  experience  are  necessary  to  the  young  things, 
and  doubtless  they  are  of  great  value." 

In  such  ways  the  cubs  grow  more  and  more  wily  and 
schooled  in  all  the  tricks  and  craft  in  which  as  a  family  no 
other  quadruped  is  their  equal.  It  would  require  pages  to 
record  all  their  cunning  in  pursuit  ot  their  game.  Later 
we  shall  attempt  to  show  other  examples  of  their  clever- 
ness in  the  tricks  they  play  upon  the  hounds  and  the  strata- 
gem of  the  huntsmen  in  circumventing  them.  Like  chess, 
hunting  the  fox  is  a  deep  game,  and  it  requires  a  clear  head 
and  years  of  experience  in  woodcraft  to  play  it  well. 

Discoursing  of  the  fox  and  his  ways,  Mr.  Kirkham  and  I 
returned  to  the  house  late  to  dinner.  Upon  my  host's 
apologising  and  madame's  learning  what  had  detained  us,  I 
was  amused  by  the  good-natured  sparring  match  that 
sprang  up  between  them  on  the  same  old  subject. 

"Well,"  began  Mrs.  Kirkham,  "if  I  wasted  as  much 
time  as  you  do  looking  after  that  vixen  and  her  cubs,  I 
should  never  expect  to  get  any  dinner.  Here  's  dinner 
now,  nearly  spoiled." 

Her  husband  turned  to  me  with  a  sly  look  in  his  eyes. 


2o8     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

"  But  if  you  will  raise  foxhound  puppies,"  he  replied, 
"  I  must  provide  them  with  something  to  do  when  they  are 
grown.  You  know  it  costs  more  to  raise  a  couple  of  fox- 
hound puppies  than  half  a  dozen  Lincoln  sheep,  and  if  you 
take  into  account  what  they  destroy  I  might  say  a  dozen. 
Now,  foxes,"  declared  my  host,  "are  not  nearly  so  expensive 
a  luxury." 

"Are  n't  they,  though?  As  I  get  the  proceeds  of  the 
poultry,  perhaps  I  ought  to  know.  Don't  you  mind  how 
they  killed  my  best  prize-winning  silver  dorking  cock  last 
year,  that  I  refused  five  pounds  for  at  the  Royal  Show } " 

"That  was  n't  the  fox's  fault.  What  can  you  expect 
when  you  don't  properly  lock  up  your  cocks  for  the  night  } 
Besides,  I  don't  believe  a  fox  killed  your  bird  at  all.  It 
must  have  been  a  skunk  or  a  weasel  did  it.  My  feeding 
the  cubs  occasionally  is  only  a  safeguard  against  their  steal- 
ing your  chickens." 

"  Well,"  retorted  madame,  whom  her  husband  in  courtesy, 
like  the  sportsman  he  is,  permitted  to  have  the  last  word, 
"  if  you  rear  foxes  on  the  farm,  I  must  grow  the  hounds 
to  kill  them." 

This  brought  the  argument  to  a  standstill,  with  honours 
easy  and  neither  party  to  the  dispute  perhaps  essentially 
dissatisfied. 


XIX 

SCENT 


"To  ev'ry  shrub  the  warm  effluvia  cling. 

Hang  on  the  grass,  impregnate  earth  and  skies. 
With  nostrils  op'ning  wide,  o'er  hill,  o'er  dale. 
The  vig'rous  hounds  pursue,  with  ev'ry  breath 
Inhale  the  grateful  steam;  quick  pleasures  sting 
Their  tingling  nerves,  while  they  their  thanks  repay. 
And  in  triumphant  melody  confess 
The  titillating  joy." 

SOMERVILLE 


XIX 
SCENT 

SOME    THEORIES    COMPARED FONDNESS    OF    HOUNDS    FOR    THE 

TRAIL HOUND    MUSIC    AND    A    NOVICE 

|F  all  the  vexed  questions  pertaining  to  the 
chase  of  wild  game,  that  of  scent,  "that 
weary,  incomprehensible,  uncontrollable  phe- 
nomenon, consistent  only  in  its  inconsistency," 
as  Jorocks  puts  it,  is  the  most  puzzling.  I  shall  not 
attempt  to  enter  into  a  full  discussion  of  this  most  interest- 
ing problem,  but  content  myself  with  stating  a  few  well- 
established  facts,  and  leave  the  reader  to  work  out  the  riddle 
as  best  he  can.  It  will  be  found  a  good  subject  to  occupy 
his  mind  during  a  long  ride  home.  But  I  give  him  fair 
warning  that  the  hypothesis  he  sets  up  to-day  to  his  entire 
satisfaction  is  likely  to  fall  like  a  card  house  at  the  very 
next  run  or  before  the  attack  of  some  one  who  is  further 
along  in   the  study. 

I  believe,  however,  all  theorists  sooner  or  later  come  to 
acknowledge  that  certain  conditions  of  the  atmosphere 
seem  to  favour  the  lasting  qualities  of  the  scent,  though  in 
some  way  that  makes  barometers  or  thermometers  unsatis- 
factory guides.     The  breaking  of  a  frost,  the  evaporation 


2  12     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

of  the  dew,  is  thought  to  take  with  it  the  line  of  the  hunted 
game.  A  porous  or  sandy  soil  is  believed  to  absorb  it.  The 
scent  itself  is  thought  by  some  theorists  to  be  left  by  the 
feet,  by  others  to  come  principally  from  the  body,  while 
still  another  school  says  it  comes  from  both. 

All  agree,  also,  I  believe,  that  a  sleeping  fox  gives  little 
or  no  scent,  that  if  he  keeps  still  in  covert,  as  he  some- 
times does,  hounds  can  and  do  run  over  and  all  about  him 
without  detecting  his  presence.  Again,  if  he  has  gone  in  a 
leisurely  way  out  of  covert  just  before  hounds  arrive,  it  is 
with  difficulty  that  they  are  able  to  own  the  line,  even  on  a 
good  scenting  day.  It  is  during  this  first  part  of  nearly 
every  run  that  a  clever  huntsman  urges  on  his  pack  as 
fast  as  ever  he  can  and  still  keep  their  noses  down  ;  that  is 
to  say,  as  fast  as  he  can  just  short  of  lifting  them  forward. 
His  idea  is  to  get  them  on  good  terms  with  their  fox  and 
that  particular  one  as  quickly  as  possible. 

That  under  favourable  conditions  scent  improves  or 
grows  stronger  as  the  chase  of  the  heated  fox  progresses, 
and  dies  down  or  weakens  when  the  fox  becomes  exhausted, 
is  also  clear.  Many  a  sinking  fox  but  a  few  yards  ahead 
of  the  hounds  saves  his  brush  because  hounds  are  no  longer 
able  to  follow  the  line.  It  has,  indeed,  been  noticed  that 
some  of  the  older  hounds  begin  driving  to  the  front  the 
moment  they  detect  this  weakening  of  the  scent.  Expe- 
rience has  taught  them  that  the  end  is  near,  while  younger 
hounds  lose  interest  because  the  sensation  is  now  less  stim- 
ulating to  their  olfactory  nerves.  This  is  so  established 
that  when  old  experienced  hounds  from  going  in  the  mid- 
dle or  rear  of  the  pack  make  a  dive  to  the  front,  it  is  taken 


Scent  213 

as  a  signal  that  the  game  is  almost  up,  and  knowing  riders 
put  on  more  steam  to  be  the  first  in  at  the  death. 

Particular  foxes  have  particular  odours  of  their  own, 
stronger  in  some  than  in  others,  probably  owing  to  their 
physical  condition  or  the  state  of  their  health.  If  this 
were  not  so,  hounds  would  be  always  changing  foxes.  The 
more  experienced  hounds  have  learned  that  it  is  best  to 
stick  to  the  fox  they  started  with,  whether  his  scent  be 
strong  or  weak,  and  the  huntsman  uses  the  greatest  care  to 
see  that  the  pack  does  not  change.  The  younger  members 
have  this  to  learn.  When  they  are  seen  to  drive  ahead 
while  the  older  hounds  check,  the  huntsman  knows  for  a 
certainty  almost  that  they  have  changed  foxes.  The 
whipper-in  rushes  to  the  heads  of  the  youngsters  to  turn 
them  back,  while  the  elders  stick  to  the  original  fox. 
This  they  are  able  to  do  even  if  the  latter's  line  crosses  a 
dozen  fresh  lines,  some  of  them  much  stronger,  perhaps, 
than  the  one  first  followed.  That  it  is  desirable  to  keep 
to  the  one  fox  is  obvious. 

That  scent  is  good  or  bad  largely  owing  to  the  condition 
of  the  atmosphere  is  a  point  on  which  nearly  every  one 
agrees.  At  the  same  time,  it  seems  due  not  to  any  condi- 
tion registered  by  barometer  or  thermometer,  but  to  some 
element  pervading  all  ether,  else  a  passing  current  of  air 
would  dispel  it.  One  often  sees  hounds  racing  to  a  line 
that  has  half  a  gale  of  wind  blowing  across  it,  or,  on  a  still 
day  when  hardly  a  leaf  is  stirring,  unable  to  follow  when 
the  fox  is  not  ten  rods  away.  That  the  coarser  particles 
which  make  the  scent  may  be  blown  away  on  the  air,  no 
one  can  doubt ;  there  must  nevertheless  be  some  property 


2  14    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

of  them  which  remains.  Of  course  a  dry,  hot  day,  a  parched 
pasture,  a  hot  sun,  is  bad  for  scent.  In  a  way,  the  action 
of  scent  is  not  unlike  that  of  smoke  or  steam.  On  certain 
days  a  locomotive  leaves  a  trail  of  steam  or  smoke  that 
ascends  quickly  to  the  upper  air ;  again,  one  that  descends 
as  quickly  to  the  earth,  or  hangs  evenly  in  mid-air  just 
above  its  point  of  issue.  On  some  days  steam  vanishes 
from  view  directly  upon  leaving  the  mouth  of  the  stack  ; 
again,  it  leaves  a  white  path  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long  in  the 
wake  of  the  train.  All  these  different  aspects  are  doubtless 
owing  to  some  atmospheric  influence,  and  just  so  it  seems 
to  be  with  the  scent  of  a  fox  —  sometimes  rising  quickly,  as 
it  does,  sometimes  clinging  to  the  grass  and  bushes  for 
yards  on  either  side  of  the  line,  or  hanging  slightly  above 
the  earth  so  that  the  hounds  instead  of  stooping  to  it  race 
away  with  heads  up  and  sterns  down,  running,  as  the  say- 
ing is,  with  "  scent  breast-high."  Sometimes  it  is  spread 
so  wide  to  right  or  left  of  a  line  that  every  hound  in  the 
pack,  although  running  rods  to  either  side  of  the  line,  can 
"feel"  it. 

That  scent  does  not  come  from  pads  alone  is  evident  from 
the  ability  of  hounds  to  follow  it  a  long  distance  in  water- 
soaked  ground  where  the  fox  has  had  to  wade,  or  across  a 
wide  stream  which  the  fox  has  had  to  swim,  the  water 
through  which  he  swam  having  moved  downward  with  the 
current.  It  happens  that  scent  will  be  good  in  one  field 
and  bad  in  the  next,  one  being  sheltered  by  a  piece  of  wood, 
the  other  not.  Conditions  of  the  atmosphere  of  one  field 
may  not  exist  in  the  next.  That  bare  ground  and  fallow 
land  are  not  usually  so  good  as  grass  and  stubble  is  accounted 


Scent  215 

for  by  the  fact  that  the  particles  of  effluvia  left  behind  by 
the  fox,  if  they  settle,  have  not  so  much  to  cling  to.  The 
"  working,"  as  the  farmers  call  it,  of  a  newly  ploughed 
field  may  cause  chemical  action  there  that  absorbs  or  dis- 
pels scent,  and  yet  again  such  land  sometimes  carries  the 
scent  beautifully,  even  across  a  dusty  highway.  Others 
believe  a  sandy  soil  absorbs  scent,  but  I  have  little  faith  in 
this  theory.  The  scent  more  likely  goes  the  other  way, 
on  heat  waves  caused  by  rapid  radiation,  for  if  absorbed  by 
sandy  or  porous  soil  the  particles  would  adhere  to  the  soil, 
and  make  the  line,  if  anything,  plainer  than  it  is  on  a  hard 
clay,  in  which  as  a  matter  of  fact  scent  is  generally  better. 
Clay  ground  is  believed  to  hold  a  scent  longer  than  sand 
or  loam,  and  probably  does,  because  evaporation  is  less  than 
on  sand.  But  enough  of  this  :  I  meant  only  to  advance  a 
few  theories  to  set  one  thinking  upon  this  ever-interesting 
topic. 

Still  another  peculiarity  of  scent  is  the  hounds'  extraor- 
dinary fondness  for  it.  Disagreeable  as  the  odour  is  to 
man,  hounds  seem  ever  more  keen  to  follow  a  fox's  line 
than  to  break  the  fox  himself.  The  huntsman  has  gen- 
erally little  trouble  to  secure  a  fox  from  the  hounds  after 
they  have  killed  him ;  at  least,  hounds  never  seem  so  eager 
to  make  away  with  him  as  one  would  expect  from  the 
greediness  with  which  they  pursued  his  line.  Judging 
from  their  actions  in  covert,  the  first  nostrilful  of  the 
scent  fairly  intoxicates  them.  Their  sterns  lash,  and  each 
particular  hair  on  their  backs  stands  on  end.  They  raise 
their  heads  and  throw  their  tongues  with  a  clamourous  yell 
of  delight  that  fairly  sets  them  back  on  their  haunches.     If 


2i6    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

the  line  is  faint  they  can  hardly  contain  themselves,  and 
whimper  and  cry  like  children  with  disappointment.  Here 
indeed  is  one  of  the  severest  tests  of  a  hound's  truthfulness. 
Sometimes  his  imagination  runs  away  with  his  judgment, 
and  away  goes  his  tongue.  The  other  hounds  leave  their 
work  and  rush  to  the  babbler's  side,  but  fail  to  confirm  him. 
The  disgusted  expression  a  hound  shows  at  such  a  false 
alarm  is  something  almost  human.  He  comes  on  a  run, 
cropping  his  head  for  a  taste;  but  when  the  mistake  is  dis- 
covered, his  whole  countenance  changes  and  he  stalks  away 
disgusted.  The  huntsman  meanwhile  has  his  eye  on  the 
babbler.  Once  or  twice  more  of  this  sort  of  lying,  and  the 
deceiver's  days  are  numbered. 

The  other  hounds,  fooled  once  or  twice,  pay  no  further 
attention  to  him,  even  if  he  speak  the  truth.  But  let  one 
of  the  old  hounds  proclaim  the  news,  and  instantly  every 
hound  is  at  his  side. 

"That  's  old  Bluebells!"  cries  the  major,  as  he  and  his 
knowing  old  horse  Friar  both  eagerly  listen  for  a  whim- 
per. "That  's  old  Bluebells!  There  is  a  fox  on  foot, 
that 's  sure.  I  'd  take  that  old  bitch's  word  for  a  million." 
And  he  charges  on  around  the  covert  where  his  black-and- 
tan  beauties  have  set  their  fox  on  foot. 

It  is  a  beautiful  and  stirring  sight  to  watch  twenty-odd 
couple  of  well-bred,  perfectly  schooled  foxhounds  when 
drawing  a  covert.  How  they  fling  themselves  here,  rush 
there,  now  in  a  bunch  with  heads  down  and  sterns  waving 
wildly  as  if  a  tornado  had  struck  them,  now  scattered,  one 
running  straight  ahead  for  a  rod,  to  stop  suddenly  and  cast 


Scent  217 

back!  "Edavvick,  Edawick!"  shouts  the  huntsman,  or,  to 
encourage  them  to  draw,  seeing  some  of  them  inclined  to 
speak,  he  cheers  them  on  with  "  Rout  him  out !  Rout  him 
out !  Rouse  him,  my  beauties !  Out  with  him,  every- 
body ! "      And  at  it  they  go,  more  desperate  than  ever. 

Forrester  charges  at  a  clump  of  bushes,  and  begins  wav- 
ing his  stern  like  a  soldier  at  signal  drill.  The  huntsman 
keeps  his  eye  on  him,  for  he  is  a  very  clever  hound  at 
finding.  He  gives  a  whimper ;  his  hackles  are  up. 
"Speak  to  it,  Forrester!  Speak  to  it,  good  boy."  But 
Forrester  will  not  lie,  even  to  please  the  huntsman.  In  the 
meantime  Bluebells,  seeing  Forrester  about  to  speak,  rushes 
past  him,  stoops  to  the  line  to  make  doubly  sure,  braces  her- 
self, lifts  her  head,  and  with  one  exultant  cry  of  joy  pro- 
claims the  find.  The  huntsman,  cap  in  hand,  cheers  on 
the  pack  again  with  "  Hark  to  Bluebells,  hark  to  Bluebells,"  as 
she  bounds  away,  joined  by  all  the  pack,  who  confirm  her 
proclamation  in  one  joyous  chorus  that  makes  the  forest 
ring  for  miles  around. 

Yes,  it  is  a  stirring  sight,  one  to  make  a  hunting  man's 
blood  tingle  to  his  finger-tips.  Your  true  hunting  man 
wonders  how  through  it  all  some  men  can  sit  their  horses 
and  yawn  and  look  bored,  as  wooden  as  a  cigar-shop 
Indian  with  the  whole  block  on  fire  behind  him.  Is  our 
civilisation  making  women  of  us,  that  we  no  longer  feel 
the  sportsman's  fire  ? 

I  pity  a  man  who  can  look  upon  a  sight  like  this 
and  see  nothing,  or  hear  such  thrilling  music  and  ask,  as  I 
heard    a  man  ask    of  a   member   of  the    Genesee   Valley 


2i8     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

Hunt:  "Ah,  what  are  the  dogs  barking  at,  do  you  think  ?" 
—  to  which  the  member,  whose  ready  tongue  never  misses 
fire,  replied  : 

"  Got  a  squirrel  up  a  tree ;  you  will  see  him  come  down 
in  a  minute." 

"  Ah,  fancy !  How  can  they  ever  expect  to  catch  a 
fox  if  the  dogs  make  such  a  noise  about  it?" 


XX 

FARMERS   AND    CITY    MEN 


"  The  farmer  in  front  on  a  bonny  grey  mare 

Is  sailing  along  in  the  van  ; 
He  tackles  his  fences  with  plenty  to  spare. 
And  trusts  to  the  mettle  that  comes  from  Kildare, 

This  sportsman  who  rides  like  a  man." 

POEMS  IN  PINK 


XX 

FARMERS   AND    CITY    MEN 

OBLIGATIONS    OF    HUNTING    MEN  TO   FARMERS FARMERS*   COMPEN- 
SATION   AND    DAMAGES CITY    MEN    IN    THE    COUNTRY SNOBS 

MAN  may  have  the  best  hunter  money  can 
buy,  the  latest  thing  in  hunting-togs  and  sad- 
dle equipments,  hounds  with  the  best  noses  in 
the  world  and  the  most  "  heavenly  music  "  ; 
but  he  cannot  ride  across  a  farmer's  field  except  with  the 
farmer's  consent,  given  or  implied. 

Hunting  men,  especially  city  men,  seldom  appreciate  the 
obligations  the  hunt  is  under  to  the  farmers  whose  land 
they  ride  over.  In  the  city  signs  of  "  Keep  off  the  grass  " 
or  "No  trespassing"  are  instinctively  obeyed  ;  but  let  a  man 
come  down  into  the  Genesee  Valley,  not  alone  and  on 
foot,  but  with  forty,  fifty,  or  seventy  men  on  horses,  and  go 
galloping  across  a  farmer's  meadows,  and  it  is  taken  as  a 
matter  of  course.  The  sportsmen  think,  perhaps,  if  they 
think  at  all:  "Oh,  the  farmer  sells  his  oats  and  hay  and 
raises  hunters  which  we  buy  at  long  prices.  He  ought  not 
to  complain."  Surely  one  has  heard  some  hunting  man 
say  this.  They  should  be  advised,  however,  never  to  repeat 
it ;  for  one  thing,  because  the  supposed  compensation  to  the 

221 


22  2     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

farmers  does  not  amount  to  enough  in  a  year  to  be  worth 
mentioning.  It  is  a  basin  of  very  old  chaff;  —  small  won- 
der the  farmer  only  smiles  sceptically  but  is  never  really 
appeased  by  such  veritable  nonsense. 

So  many  writers  on  hunting  have  repeated  this  sort  of 
thing  so  often  that  they  have  come  to  believe  it.  Their 
wishes  are  fathers  to  their  theories.  Yet  it  is  a  false  doctrine 
which  one  should  wish  to  see  set  right. 

Can  they  mean  to  say  that  if  hunting  men  did  not  move 
into  a  country  the  farmer  would  have  no  market  for  his 
crops  ? 

"  Of  course  not ;  but  there  is  the  sale  of  his  hunters," 
they  contend. 

And  are  there  no  other  animals  he  can  raise?  Is  there 
no  other  market  for  hunters  ?  Is  theirs  the  only  club  on 
earth  ?  They  talk  as  if  the  farmer  would  starve  if  it  were 
not  for  the  sale  of  his  products  to  hunting  men.  When 
they  say  the  farmer  ought  to  welcome  the  hunting  men 
across  his  fields  for  what  he  gets  out  of  the  hunt,  they  insult 
his  intelligence.  Where  do  the  hunting  men  buy  their 
hay  ?  Nine  out  of  ten  buy  of  the  dealer  in  town.  Their 
oats  are  ordered  by  telephone,  and  may  never  have  seen  the 
farmer's  lands  which  the  buyers  hunt  over.  Nor  is  the 
hunting  season  the  only  time  when  the  farmer  can  sell  oats. 
As  for  hunters,  nine  out  of  ten  are  picked  up  by  the  dealers, 
who  buy  them,  perhaps,  for  scarcely  fifty  dollars  more  than 
they  would  have  had  to  pay  for  a  farm-horse,  no  more  than 
they  would  have  to  pay  for  a  good  coach  or  standard  bred 
horse.  No ;  all  this  talk  about  the  farmers'  compen- 
sation   is  only   another  instance    of  the  parrot   talk  with 


Farmers  and  City  Men  223 

which  we  become  familiar  in  the  course  of  a  hunting 
career. 

It  is  not  for  any  imagined  increase  of  revenue  that  the 
farmer  allows  the  hunt  to  cross  his  lands,  protects  a  litter 
of  foxes  in  his  fields,  or  takes  mischievous  puppies  to  walk. 
The  foxes  or  the  puppies  alone  cost  him  more  every  year 
than  what  he  gets  out  of  the  hunting  men  over  and  above 
the  regular  price  of  farm  products.  A  fox  will  kill  per- 
haps twenty  head  of  poultry  in  a  single  night.  A  hound 
puppy  may  destroy  a  twenty-dollar  lap-robe  in  twenty 
minutes.  The  huntsmen  smash  his  fence  and  leave  his 
gates  open,  so  that  he  and  his  men  have  to  spend  the  rest 
of  the  day  and  half  of  the  night,  perhaps,  looking  for  stray 
cattle  or  sheep.  What  compensation  is  it,  what  consola- 
tion, for  the  farmer  to  be  told  that  he  may  get  a  cent  or 
two  more  a  bushel  for  a  hundred  bushels  of  oats,  when  the 
riders  racing  across  his  meadows  frighten  his  cows  so  that 
the  shrinkage  in  the  flow  of  milk  amounts  to  dollars  ? 
What  is  to  pay  him  for  the  premature  birth  of  the  calf  from 
his  best  cow,  or  of  the  Iambs  from  the  ewe  that  was  raced 
into  the  corner  of  the  pasture  ?  It  is  his  big  heart,  not  his 
hope  of  small  pennies,  that  makes  him  endure  all  this. 

To  be  sure,  there  is  supposed  to  be  compensation  for 
damages  from  the  hunt ;  but  not  one  farmer  in  ten,  in 
America  at  least,  ever  demands  it.  No  one  outside  of  the 
farmer's  family  or  the  visiting  neighbour  ever  knows  of 
the  damage.  The  Master  himself,  who  knows  a  good  deal, 
never  hears  the  half,  because  farmers  do  not  like  to  com- 
plain of  amounts  that  are  trifling,  and  keep  still  even 
when  they  may  feel  aggrieved  and  have  met  with  serious 


2  24    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

injury  to  property.  Mr.  Austin  Wadsworth,  M.F.H.,  of 
the  Genesee  Valley  Hunt,  once  told  me  that  during  the 
number  of  years  he  had  been  Master  there  he  had  paid  out 
only  a  small  sum,  all  told,  for  damages.  No ;  hunting  men 
are  permitted  to  ride  over  farms  because  the  farmer  likes 
to  see  them  enjoy  themselves ;  even  if  he  cannot  afford  to 
keep  a  hunter  or  take  a  half-holiday  himself,  he  bids  them 
welcome. 

Few  city  men  appreciate  this  welcome.  Reverse  the 
case  and  it  would  be  another  story.  Suppose  the  owner  of 
a  furniture-shop  in  town  had  forty  or  fifty  roughshod 
farmers  periodically  rushing  through  his  shop,  kicking  over 
chairs,  breaking  mirrors,  leaving  the  door  of  the  varnish- 
room  open  till  a  cloud  of  dust  made  the  new  work  to  do 
all  over  again  —  how  much  comforted  would  he  be  to 
have  them  say  they  might  buy  a  rocking-chair  or  two, 
and  tell  him  he  ought  to  welcome  such  good  patrons  and 
not  be  grumbling?  The  debt  the  hunters  owe  the  farmers 
whose  land  they  ride  over  is  one  of  gratitude,  and  can 
never  be  reduced  to  figures.  They  pay  a  thousand  dollars 
apiece  for  their  hunters,  a  hundred  for  their  hunting-suits, 
three  cents  a  mile  to  the  railway  company  to  journey  to 
the  valley,  and  dollars  or  pennies  to  hotels,  servants,  or 
grooms.  Every  bill  they  owe,  little  or  big,  they  pay  to  the 
last  penny,  or  ought  to  ;  but  none  pays  the  farmer,  directly 
or  indirectly,  for  riding  roughshod  across  his  fields.  It  is 
really  too  bad  to  spout  that  musty  speech  about  the  farmer's 
pecuniary  advantage  from  the  hunt.  One  should  rather 
speak  out  like  a  sportsman  and  own  the  debt ;  for,  although 
he  cannot  square  accounts,  he  can  at  least  have  a  care. 


Farmers  and  City  Men  225 

If  not  in  coin  of  the  realm,  at  least  in  courtesy  the  debt 
may  be  recognised.  It  is  surprising  to  see  how  chary  of 
thanks  some  city  men  are  to  their  country  creditors.  Some 
of  these  are  members  of  the  hunt,  they  or  their  sons  or  both  ; 
yet  how  does  the  city  man  treat  them  when  he  meets  them 
in  the  hunting-field  ?  Many  times  as  if  they  were  beneath 
his  notice.  Such  discourtesy  is  intolerable.  City  men  who 
go  into  the  country  should  do  their  best  to  prevent  such 
snobbishness.  Even  if  they  do  not  care  a  toss  of  their 
heads  for  the  feelings  of  the  farmers  or  their  own  reputa- 
tion among  them,  they  should  think  of  the  Master,  and  for 
his  sake  make  an  effort  to  treat  the  country  members  of 
the  hunt  with  gentlemanly  consideration.  Nothing  they 
could  do  would  please  him  better,  unless  it  were  refraining 
from  riding  on  top  of  his  hounds.  A  true  sportsman,  however 
unskilled  at  a  game,  is  first  of  all  a  gentleman  ;  the  two 
terms  should  be  synonymous.  Your  true  sportsman  and  gen- 
tleman observes  the  golden  rule.  Youthful  members  of 
the  hunt  especially  should  look  to  it  that  they  admire  the 
proficiency  of  a  fellow-hunter  rather  than  his  dress.  They 
will  often  find  that  some  of  the  best  and  keenest  sportsmen 
wear  old  clothes,  that  some  of  the  best  horsemen  ride  long- 
tailed  horses  and  wear  slouched  hats,  that  a  man  with  the 
best  seat  and  the  best  hands  sometimes  goes  with  a  toggled 
bridle  and  rusty  saddle-irons,  but  is 

A  rider  unequalled,  a  sportsman  complete, 
A  rum  one  to  follow,  and  a  bad  one  to  beat. 

They  should   remember,   in   short,  that  as  a   rule  farmers 
and  farmers'  sons  know  more  about  the  art  and  science  of 


2  26    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

fox-hunting  than  many  of  the  men  who  dress  and  feel 
above  them. 

I  must  confess,  too,  there  is  more  snobbishness  displayed 
in  the  hunting-field  in  America  than  among  the  most 
fashionable  packs  in  England.  One  great  charm  of  hunt- 
ing in  England  is  the  entire  absence  of  snobbishness.  Dukes 
and  farmers,  lords  and  merchants,  meet  for  the  day  on  one 
common  level.  Riding  to  covert  you  will  see  a  former 
prime  minister  talking  pleasantly  to  a  tenant-farmer,  a 
wealthy  duke  chatting  with  a  horse-dealer,  an  illustrious 
knight  asking  the  village  cobbler  for  a  match.  I  believe 
some  townsmen  in  America  would  faint  away  if  a  farmer 
should  ask  them  the  time  o'  day.  But  an  English  gentleman 
sportsman  is  the  most  gentlemanly  gentleman  in  the  world, 
and  perfect  absence  of  snobbishness  is  one  of  his  char- 
acteristics. 

Edward  VII,  the  present  King  of  England,  is,  and  as 
Prince  of  Wales  was,  a  lesson  and  example  in  this  respect  to 
all  snobs.  If  ever  there  was  a  genuine  sportsman,  His 
Majesty  is  one.  He  goes  in  for  breeding  pure-bred  cattle 
and  sheep,  and  his  stock  is  seen  at  all  the  leading  shows  and 
fairs  in  England,  competing  for  prizes  against  the  country 
tenant-farmers.  Neither  King  Edward  nor  the  late  Queen, 
who  was  also  a  keen  breeder  and  exhibitor,  ever  exhibited 
anything  except  what  was  bred  and  reared  on  their  own 
farms.  They  could  have  sent  about  the  country  to  buy  up 
a  lot  of  prize-winners  if  they  had  wished,  but  their  sports- 
manship forbade  such  taking  advantage  of  their  competitors. 
The  King's  stock,  sent  to  any  fair,  receives  the  same  treat- 
ment as  that  of  the  farmer :  is  kept  in  the  same  stalls ;  and  in 


Farmers  and  City  Men  227 

the  same  ring,  under  the  same  conditions,  wins  or  loses. 
It  is  no  infrequent  sight  to  see  the  King,  as  I  saw  him  at  the 
Royal  Agricultural  Show  at  York,  go  into  an  enclosure 
where  fifty  shepherds  and  farmers  stand  holding  as  many 
rams  for  his  inspection,  nor  find  it  beneath  his  dignity  to 
shake  hands  with  tenant-farmers,  to  give  a  smile  and  a  nod 
to  a  lad  who  has  his  hands  full  keeping  a  refractory  ram  in 
position,  or  a  "thank  you"  to  some  old  weather-beaten 
shepherd  who  holds  a  sheep  while  the  King  parts  the 
wool  to  inspect  the  quality.  It  is  said,  and  I  can  well  be- 
lieve, that  His  Royal  Highness,  as  he  was  till  recently,  never 
looked  so  much  a  man  as  the  day  he  placed  himself  on  a 
level  with  the  humblest  competitors  in  the  contest  for 
prizes,  and  walked  among  them  afterward,  not  as  a  prince, 
but  as  a  farmer.  One  need  not  marvel  at  his  great  popu- 
larity, or  seek  long  to  discover  what  makes  him  one  ot  the 
best-liked  men  in  England.  It  is  because  the  instincts  of 
true  sportsmanship  direct  every  act 

Lastly,  I  might  add  that  the  talented  author  of"  Poems  in 
Pink"  agrees  with  me  on  this  score  of  snobbishness,  for  he 
writes : 

Leave  us  the  chase,  where,  in  harmony  blending, 

Men  of  all  classes  ride  on  to  the  end. 
Men  become  brothers,  each  brother  contending  ; 

Every  true  sportsman  is  counted  a  friend. 


XXI 
THE    LADY    RIDER 


"  Methinks  I  can  see  them  —  the  mare  she  was  riding, 
As  bold  as  a  lion,  as  meek  as  a  dove; 
The  hunter  so  tame  in  the  hand  that  was  guiding 
Its  movements  with  kindness,  its  mettle  with  love." 

POEMS  IN  PINK 


XXI 
THE   LADY    RIDER 

HER     POSITION    IN    THE     FIELD HER     HORSEMANSHIP HER 

COURAGE    AND     RESOLUTION A    FAMOUS    RIDER 

jOST  men,  and  at  any  rate  all  true  sportsmen, 
agree  in  paying  to  the  women  of  their  race 
a  chivalrous  respect,  constituting  themselves 
at  all  times  helping  hands  in  little  things  and 
champions  in  great.  There  can  be  no  rule  without  an 
exception,  however,  and  the  exception  to  the  rule  of 
romantic  chivalry  occurs  when  men  and  women  meet  in 
the  way  of  business  or  on  the  hunting-field.  When  a 
woman  enters  business  as  a  competitor  with  man,  she  puts 
herself  on  his  level,  and  should,  and  in  many  cases  does, 
expect  him  to  treat  her  with  neither  more  nor  less  consid- 
eration than  he  would  show  another  man.  She  is  in  the 
game  and  takes  her  chances.  It  would  be  unsportsman- 
like not  to  treat  her  in  every  way  as  an  equal.  If  she 
loses  at  cards,  a  man  should  not,  because  she  is  a  woman, 
count  only  three  points  against  her  when  she  has  lost  five ; 
if  she  backs  the  wrong  horse  she  should  pay  every  farthing  ; 
and  when  she  rides  out  to  take  her  chances  with  men  in 
the   chase,  she  plays   a  game  as  truly  as  if  she  played   bil- 

231 


232     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

liards  or  cards.  She  understands  that  she  is  on  the  same 
footing  with  the  other  members,  regardless  of  sex,  and 
if  she  is  the  thorough  sportsman  which  she  often  is  in  these 
days,  she  expects  no  favours,  and  men  need  not  feel  under 
obligations  to  give  her  any  more  attention  or  assistance  than 
if  she  were  one  of  themselves. 

Precisely  the  difficulty  with  ladies  in  the  hunting-field, 
however,  is  that  men  cannot  seem  to  rid  themselves  of  this 
notion  of  their  devoirs.  If  a  lady  is  just  behind  at  a  gap, 
for  instance,  they  must  halt  and  let  her  pass  first.  This  is 
wrong  in  the  end.  They  wrong  themselves,  and  make  her 
feel  at  last  that  she  is  a  burden.  If  a  gale  of  wind  is 
likely  to  slam  a  gate  against  her,  it  should  be  let  to  slam. 
A  man  is  under  no  obligation  to  put  his  horse  in  a  temper 
or  lose  his  position  on  this  account.  If  she  cannot  manage 
the  gate  as  he  had  to,  let  her  be  caught  by  it.  This  may 
seem  a  heartless,  cold-blooded  thing  to  say,  but  it  is  the  atti- 
tude which,  in  the  long  run,  conduces  most  to  a  fair  rider's 
sport  and  pleasure. 

One  hears  the  unkind  comment  not  infrequently,  of 
course,  that  men  are  agreeable  and  generous  in  the  draw- 
ing-room, but  selfish  the  moment  hounds  begin  running, 
and  the  fault  is  more  with  the  men  really  than  with  the 
women.  Men  seem  to  feel  they  simply  must  be  gallant. 
This  is  especially  true  of  Americans. 

Yet,  in  one  sense,  this  is  only  to  be  expected,  for  a  woman 
in  the  field  is  a  constant  object  of  wonderment  or  admira- 
tion. There  is  nothing  that  sets  off  a  nice  hunter  as  her 
figure  does,  nothing  that  adds  more  to  the  beauty  and 
interest  of  the  game  than  the  presence  of  a  goodly  number 


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The  Lady  Rider  233 

of  ladies.  They  are  totally  unaccountable.  They  do  the 
most  reckless  things,  entirely  oblivious  of  circumstances. 
Look  at  this  Amazon  with  loose  rein  and  horse  rushing 
without  let  or  hindrance  through  a  piece  of  woods,  her 
hair  down  and  streaming  out  behind.  You  expect  to  see 
her  skirts  cling  to  some  projecting  prong  of  a  tree,  or  her 
hair  catch  on  some  limb  overhead.  Away  she  goes,  happy  in 
the  ecstasy  of  the  chase.  A  check  you  think  ought  to  find 
her  face  blanched ;  but  you  reckon  without  your  host. 
Not  she !  She  simply  throws  the  reins  down  on  the  neck 
of  her  horse,  which  is  quite  willing  to  stand,  being  pumped 
to  a  turn,  and  begins  with  both  hands  to  arrange  her  back 
hair,  having  previously  filled  her  mouth  with  hair-pins. 
Her  face  struggles  with  smiles  she  cannot  repress.  And 
as  the  last  hair-pin  is  released  from  between  her  ruby  lips, 
she  says  to  any  one  who  may  happen  to  be  standing  near, 
"  Was  it  not  glorious,  that  ride  through  the  woods  ? " 

Horsemanship  is  not  a  woman's  forte,  yet  with  those 
wonderful  hands  of  hers  she  can  manage  many  a  horse 
with  ease  that  a  man  would  discard  as  a  brute  for  pulling. 
Away  she  sails  through  footing  good  or  bad,  with  the 
same  free  hand,  leaving  her  horse  to  manage  for  himself. 
The  lines  are  in  her  hands,  it  is  true,  but  she  seldom  inter- 
feres with  the  bit. 

Another  beautiful  thing  about  her  riding  is  that  her 
mount  seems  to  be  in  perfect  harmony  with  her  ways.  A 
sort  of  mystic  understanding  seems  to  exist  between  them ; 
she  seems  to  govern  by  some  subtle  power  like  hypnotism. 
She  never  irritates  or  worries  or  punishes  him  in  any  way. 
This,  by  the  way,  is  one  very  important  lesson  to  be  learned 


234    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

from  her.  A  man  who  rode  in  her  style  would  be  called 
a  reckless  daredevil,  and  probably  be  run  away  with  every 
day  he  came  out.  The  chances  she  takes  successfully  seem 
to  suggest  a  charmed  life,  or  strengthen  one's  faith  in  the 
good  old  doctrine  of  predestination. 

Occasionally  a  lady  rider  exhibits  a  bit  of  horsemanship, 
but  as  a  rule  she  is  conspicuous  for  her  lack  of  it,  although, 
amusingly  enough,  she  does  not  know  it,  nor  does  her  mount 
seem  to  find  it  out. 

"Some  day,"  once  said  a  young  hunting  man  to  me,  "there 
will  be  a  most  horrible  accident  to  a  lady  rider  in  the 
hunting-field,  though  may  I  never  be  present  to  witness  it. 
She  courts  danger  as  she  does  admiration." 

"  I  have  been  expecting  it  for  the  last  sixty  years,"  said 
an  old  hunting  man  to  me  in  England,  "  but  it  never 
comes." 

"  She  takes  my  breath  away,"  remarked  a  friend  of  mine 

one  day  as  we  saw  Miss  F ,  a  most  welcome   addition 

to  the  Genesee  Valley  Hunt,  send  her  faithful  grey  at  a 
fence  with  a  miry  take-off  and  a  big  drop  on  the  landing 
side.  It  was  an  awful  scramble,  but  the  blood  of  Wa-wa- 
zanda  was  in  the  old  mare's  veins.  She  had  her  own  way, 
entirely  unhampered,  and  in  time  we  regained  our  normal 
respiration. 

The  same  woman  who  would  jump  upon  a  chair  in 
fright  if  a  mouse  ran  across  the  room,  or  who  would  rather 
die  than  bait  a  hook  with  a  squirming  angleworm,  will 
sail  with  apparently  no  concern  at  a  stake-and-rider  fence 
with  a  ditch  on  the  landing  side  that  makes  us  shut  our 
eyes.     They    are     enigmas,    certainly.      Their     riding    to 


The  Lady  Rider  235 

hounds  is  an  object-lesson,  but  their  boldness  springs  not 
from  bravery  or  pluck  or  nerve,  but  simply  resolution. 
They  have  made  up  their  minds  to  go,  and  whatever  it  is 
that  stands  for  their  nerve  or  courage  is  screwed  to  the 
sticking-point  until  the  end  of  the  run.  I  say  all  this  with 
the  greatest  respect,  of  course,  and  mean  no  slur  whatever. 
I  remember  once,  upon  my  ship's  arriving  in  the  Bay  of 
Fayal,  Azores,  passengers  were  obliged  to  go  ashore  in  life- 
boats in  a  sea  that  was  running  very  high,  and  among  them 
was  a  woman  whose  destination  was  Fayal.  She  was  a 
peculiarly  nervous  type,  just  short,  indeed,  of  the  hysterical. 
During  the  voyage,  if  the  great  ship  gave  an  unusual  lurch 
or  roll,  she  would  scream  in  terror,  and  every  one  won- 
dered how  in  the  world  she  was  to  get  down  the  narrow 
gangway  and  into  the  small  boat,  bounding  up  and  down  as 
it  was,  with  no  assisting  hand.  A  person  descending  the 
ladder  had  to  stop  on  the  last  round  and  wait  until  a  wave 
of  the  right  height  placed  the  small  boat  on  a  level  with 
the  step  an  instant  before  it  dropped  again  ten  or  fifteen 
feet  into  the  trough  of  the  sea.  The  captain,  a  Portuguese, 
in  a  comical  state  of  anxiety  to  know  how  to  manage  this 
particular  passenger,  finally  turned  and  walked  away,  fear- 
ing a  scene.  The  key  of  the  situation,  however,  was  in 
her  woman's  head.  A  firm  look  of  resolution  settled  over 
her  face.  She  glanced  once  over  the  rail  ;  then,  with  a  toss 
of  her  head,  walked  to  the  ladder  and,  spurning  all  assis- 
tance, made  the  descent  with  less  apparent  concern  than  any 
man  who  had  preceded  her.  Such  was  her  woman's  way. 
It  was  simply  resolution,  that  set  like  a  time-lock  and  car- 
ried her  through.      No  doubt  she  fainted  at  the  landing. 


236     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

At  least  one  hunt  in  America  has  probably  a  dozen  most 
accomplished  horsewomen  —  the  Toronto  Hunt  Club  of 
Ontario,  Canada.  Nowhere  have  I  ever  seen  so  many 
brilliant  lady  riders  to  hounds.  And,  by  the  way,  there  is 
no  prettier  hunt  club  in  America  than  this  same  Toronto 
Club.  The  club-house,  in  the  natural  forest,  on  a  steep 
bluff  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Ontario,  is  one  of  the  most 
delightful  spots,  planned  and  managed  in  the  best  of  taste. 
The  great  charm  of  the  place  is  that  nature  has  been  left 
severely  alone.  The  paths  are  simply  trails  through  the 
wood.  The  club-house  itself  is  a  model  of  convenience, 
and  the  arrangement  and  management  of  the  kennels  are 
superior  to  anything  I  have  ever  seen  on  the  same  side  of 
the  Atlantic. 

One  of  the  most  enjoyable  days  to  hounds  I  ever  had  in 
England  was  in  the  wake  of  an  accomplished  horsewoman. 
I  had  been  spending  a  week  in  the  Quorn  country,  and  on 
the  train  for  Warwick  fell  in  with  some  hunting  men,  of 
whom  I  enquired  with  what  pack  they  hunted  and  where 
the  meet  was.  They  hunted  with  the  North  Warwick- 
shire hounds,  it  seemed,  and  the  meet  was  that  day  at  Kenil- 
worth  Castle.  As  I  should  be  passing  Kenilworth,  I  thought 
I  would  drop  off  there  and  look  at  the  castle,  which  I  had 
never  seen,  and  also,  perhaps,  get  a  glimpse  of  my  new  ac- 
quaintances again  at  the  meet  at  eleven.  Though  with 
little  time  to  spare,  I  was  so  fortunate  as  to  secure  an  excel- 
lent mount  at  a  livery,  a  clean-bred  thoroughbred  whose 
rider  had  telegraphed  at  the  last  moment  that  he  could  not 
come.  I  slipped  into  my  hunting-clothes,  and  was  at  the 
meet  in  the  nick  of  time.      It  was  a  glorious  day,  and  there 


The  Lady  Rider  237 

were  nearly  two  hundred  riders  present,  whose  pink  coats 
lent  an  exhilarating  colour  to  the  picture.  It  so  happened 
when  we  got  ofF  that  I  found  myself  striding  along  in  the 
wake  of  the  most  artistic  and  accomplished  lady  rider  I  had 
ever  seen.  Besides  a  perfect  figure,  her  seat  and  carriage 
were  faultless,  and  she  seemed  to  have  an  unusual  amount  of 
horse-sense  or  horsemanship,  that  most  pleasing  because  one 
of  the  least  frequent  gifts  among  women  who  ride  to 
hounds.  Do  what  I  would,  I  had  to  be  content  with  a  view 
of  her  back.  We  had  a  glorious  gallop  of  twenty  minutes 
or  more  straight  away  over  beautiful  meadows,  as  thrilling 
and  brilliant  a  charge  as  one  could  wish,  hunters  to  right 
of  us,  hunters  to  left  of  us.  On  rode  my  pilot,  and  well ; 
bullfinch  and  ditch,  timber  and  brook —  I  never  had  such 
a  lead  in  my  life.  A  check  came  none  too  soon,  for  our 
horses  were  done  to  a  turn. 

"Who  is  that  lady?"  I  asked  a  farmer-looking  chap, 
pointing  to  my  pilot.      He  looked  at  me  from  head  to  foot. 

"  Don't  you  know  who  that  is?  " 

"  No  ;   I  am  a  stranger  here." 

"  Bless  you,  sir  !  But  every  one  in  England  knows  that 
lady,  or  ought  to.  That  's  the  Countess  of  Warwick."  — 
Whose  face,  I  must  confess,  was  as  beautiful  as  her  figure, 
which  was,  in  turn,  as  perfect  as  her  riding. 

I  pulled  out  of  the  run  to  take  the  three-o'clock  train  for 
Warwick,  and  had  a  charming  visit  of  sight-seeing  at  the 
castle.  As  the  guide  was  showing  me  through,  I  asked  to 
see  some  relics  of  Richard,  Earl  of  Warwick,  of  whom  I  had 
read  in  Bulwer  Lytton's  "Last  of  the  Barons." 

"They  are  in  the  living-rooms,"  he  replied.      "If  the 


238     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

family  are  away  I  may  possibly  take  you  in."  He  returned 
to  inform  me  the  countess  was  hunting. 

"Yes,"  said  I;  "I  have  reason  to  know  she  is  hunting, 
I  had  twenty  minutes  in  her  wake  this  very  afternoon,  and 
it  was  the  greatest  twenty  minutes  of  my  life  in  the  saddle." 

My  praise  of  his  lady  so  touched  his  heart  that  he 
showed  me  all  through  the  house.  It  was  an  unexpected 
day,  but  one  in  which  my  cup  was  right  side  up  from  start 
to  finish.  I  take  the  liberty  to  relate  this  little  adven- 
ture freely  by  way  of  thanks  for  courtesies  received  and  in 
tribute  to  perfect  riding. 

One  thing  that  spoils  many  riding  men  and  particularly 
makes  miserable  many  riding  women  is  that  the  moment 
they  are  accomplished  enough  to  keep  to  the  front,  jealousy 
of  the  accomplishments  of  others  springs  up  in  them.  They 
begin  to  talk  about  how  they  cut  down  So-and-so,  and  fish 
generally  for  compliments.  The  women,  at  any  rate,  get 
them,  of  course,  which  only  intensifies  their  spirit  of  emula- 
tion, and  sooner  or  later  will  mark  the  end  of  their  riding. 
Yet,  with  all  the  lady  rider's  faults,  we  love  her  still.  May 
she  never  cease  to  grace  the  hunting-field  with  her  pres- 
ence. She  certainly  has  a  charmed  as  well  as  a  charming 
life  in  the  saddle,  and  I,  for  one,  welcome  her  ever  if  she 
knows  that  every  woman  is  a  man  in  the  hunting-field,  and 
that  it  is  every  man  for  himself,  with  his  Satanic  Majesty  to 
look  after  the  hindmost. 


XXII 
MIND-POWER    HORSEMANSHIP 


'  I  said  to  myself,  it  is  hard  to  believe. 
But  yet  as  I  look  I  can  plainly  perceive. 
In  the  dash  of  the  horse  that  is  leading  the  van. 
The  workings  that  come  from  the  mind  of  the  man." 

POEMS  IN   PINK 


XXII 
MIND-POWER    HORSEMANSHIP 

"an    indefinable     something" PERSONAL     MAGNETISM 

CONSENT    TO     BE     GOVERNED  CULTIVATION    OF 

MIND-POWER    CONTROL 

(HERE  seems  to  exist  between  man  and  beast 
a  certain  force  by  which  the  former  is  able  to 
exert  over  the  latter  some  subtle  influence  to 
which  various  names  such  as  "  bond  of  sym- 
pathy," "  an  indefinable  something,"  are  occasionally  given. 
So  far  as  I  am  aware,  no  writer  on  hunting  has  attempted 
to  advance  any  hypothesis  which  may  reasonably  account 
for  the  source  of  this  power  or  define  its  scope  and  limi- 
tations. 

We  hear  it  said  that  dogs  and  horses  love  certain  people 
because  these  people  love  them,  and  that  this  love  itself 
explains  their  control  over  horses  or  dogs.  "  All  dogs 
take  to  me,"  one  person  says ;  "  I  don't  know  why  it  is, 
but  I  can  make  them  do  almost  anything."  And,  indeed, 
some  persons  easily  teach  a  dog  or  a  cat  or  a  bird  a  trick 
which  another  would  require  weeks  to  instruct  them  in,  if 
he  did  not  fail  altogether.  Yet,  while  it  is  true  that  a  per- 
son who  loves  animals  is  more  likely  to  train  them  easily, 

241 


242     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

the  power  cannot  be  attributed  to  love,  for  often  an  entire 
stranger  can  make  an  animal  do  things  which  the  owner, 
who  loves  the  creature  dearly  and  is  in  turn  dearly  loved, 
fails  to  accomplish.  One  man  will  take  a  horse  that  he 
has  never  seen  or  ridden  before  through  a  cross-country 
run  to  hounds,  and  bring  him  in  at  the  death  without 
exhausting  him  as  much  as  his  owner  would,  although  the 
latter  may  be  as  good  a  horseman  and  lighter  in  weight. 
Every  hunting-field  affords  examples  of  this,  which  cannot 
be  accounted  for  by  difference  of  horsemanship.  Writers 
on  hunting  all  agree  that  some  men  can  make  a  horse  do 
most  incredible  things,  and  attribute  this  wonderful  power 
of  control  to  "  better  hands,"  "  better  seat,"  or  what  not. 
It  must  be  admitted  that  a  person  with  very  bad  hands  or 
a  bad  seat,  or  both,  may  irritate  a  horse  and  take  more 
out  of  him  in  a  run  than  a  man  with  perfect  hands  and 
seat ;  but  an  explanation  on  this  basis  does  not  account  for 
the  fact  that  a  better  rider  and  a  lighter  can  come  through 
a  run  with  the  better-conditioned  horse  pumped  to  a  turn, 
while  another  man  who  has  ridden  the  same  line  brings 
his  horse  in  comparatively  fresh  ;  or  that  two  such  men 
may  change  horses  in  the  next  run  and  find  the  results 
change  too.  The  fact  has  been  demonstrated  so  often  in 
every  hunting-field  that  I  need  not  enlarge  upon  it,  except 
to  say  we  must  look  further  than  any  theory  as  to  hands 
and  seat,  or  of  the  power  of  love,  in  explanation  of  such 
phenomena. 

Most  of  my  readers  have  doubtless  seen,  at  exhibitions 
throughout  the  country,  examples  of  the  wonderful  control 
some  men  have  over  animals,  the  wild  becoming  tame,  the 


Mind-power  Horsemanship  243 

nervous  quiet,  and  the  vicious  tractable  under  their  magic 
influence.  Such  things  are  sometimes  explained  by  the 
sceptics  as  the  results  of  "  doping."  From  personal  know- 
ledge, however,  as  a  pupil  of  Rarus,  and  from  personal 
acquaintance  with  the  late  Professor  Norris,  and  since  with 
his  son  Mr.  Stuart  Norris,  who  is  following  in  the  foot- 
steps of  his  illustrious  father  in  the  training  and  exhibition 
of  trick  horses,  I  am  positive  in  saying  that  there  is  abso- 
lutely no  foundation  in  attributing  to  this  "  doping  "  theory 
the  wonderful  power  of  control  which  these  men  display. 

Let  us  see  if  an  attempt  to  puzzle  out  or  analyse  this 
power  will  not  result  in  establishing  its  source.  We  may 
start  with  the  assumption  that  the  numerous  terms  in  com- 
mon use  to  define  this  power  —  "charm,"  "gift,"  "per- 
sonal magnetism,"  "will  power,"  "natural  instinct" — go 
to  show  that  its  existence  is  recognised  beyond  doubt  or 
question.  An  analogous  power  of  control  existing  between 
man  and  man  is  familiar  under  the  names  of  hypnotism, 
magnetism,  mesmerism,  or  kindred  mind-power  manifesta- 
tions. All  mind-power  manifestation,  under  whatever  name, 
is,  I  believe,  subject  to  one  universal  condition,  namely,  con- 
sent. The  resemblance  between  the  terms  generally  adopted 
in  attempting  to  describe  the  power  that  some  men  have  over 
their  mounts,  and  the  terms  by  which  we  try  to  describe  hyp- 
notism and  other  mind-power  manifestations  between  men 
and  men,  is  significant.  One  set  of  words  applies  just  as  fairly 
to  the  power  some  men  are  capable  of  exerting  over  some 
other  men  as  they  do  to  the  powers  which  great  animal-, 
tamers  or  our  peculiarly  gifted  horsemen  have  over  the 
animals  they  bend  to  their  wills.     That  some  men  possess 


244    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

this  power  over  animals  and  are  unconscious  of  exerting  it 
is  no  proof  that  the  power  does  not  exist.  Hypnotism, 
though  old  in  essence,  is  in  practice  very  lately  out  of  its 
infancy,  yet  making  vast  progress.  Several  physicians  of 
my  acquaintance  are  making  use  of  it  with  most  satisfac- 
tory results,  even  employing  it  in  place  of  antiseptics  when 
performing  dental  and  surgical  operations.  So  rapidly  has 
this  subject  developed  of  late  in  the  medical  world  that  one 
of  the  most  successful  physicians  of  to-day  says :  "  Within 
ten  years  from  now  no  student  of  medicine  will  be  consid- 
ered master  of  the  profession  unless  he  is  able  to  command 
this  power."  If  this  mind  power  between  man  and  man 
is  the  same  as  that  between  man  and  beast,  we  have  proba- 
bly what  may  be  termed  a  working  hypothesis  covering 
the  whole  field  and  reasonably  accounting  for  many  other- 
wise unaccountable  things  in  the  way  of  horsemanship. 

We  noticed,  under  the  subject  of  mind-power  manifesta- 
tions as  between  man  and  man,  that  the  one  common  fac- 
tor prevailing  in  all  is  consent,  which  has  its  parallel  in  the 
relation  between  man  and  beast,  called  by  whatever  name. 
In  all  hunting  countries  there  is  a  saying  that  in  order  to  be 
successful  in  horsemanship  one  must  first  get  on  good  terms 
with  one's  mount.  Getting  on  good  terms  with  a  horse  is 
merely  obtaining  his  consent  to  be  governed.  If  these 
things  be  true,  it  brings  us  to  the  conclusion  that  this  power 
emanates  from  the  same  source,  whether  exercised  between 
man  and  man  or  between  man  and  beast,  and  the  working 
hypothesis  we  have  set  out  to  establish  may  be  summed  up 
as  follows  :  ( i )  there  exists  a  mind-power  control  between 
man    and   man;    (2)    there    exists   a    mind-power    control 


Mind-power  Horsemanship  245 

between  man  and  beast ;  and  (3)  the  power  of  control  is 
the  same  in  both  cases. 

This  brings  us  to  another  point  purposely  omitted  until 
now,  namely,  that  while  a  person  or  a  horse  may  be  will- 
ing to  be  acted  upon,  the  person  seeking  to  control  him 
must  be  desirous  of  doing  so.  In  all  hypnotic  demonstra- 
tions there  must  be  harmony,  accord,  or  what  the  French 
term  rapport.  Further,  this  power,  or  desire,  ( i )  exists  in 
every  person  to  a  greater  or  less  degree;  (2)  it  is,  like 
other  faculties  of  the  mind  or  body,  subject  to  cultivation 
or  development,  and,  like  them,  increases  with  use;  (3)  its 
manifestation  is  in  a  degree  proportionate  to  the  will  of  the 
one  or  the  faith  or  confidence  of  the  other. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  advance  any  evidence  to  sustain 
the  theory  of  mind  power  in  the  case  of  man  and  man,  as 
that  is  universally  admitted.  As  to  the  power  of  control 
of  man  over  animals,  I  may  be  pardoned  for  stating  a  few 
facts  that  have  come  under  my  observation.  I  once  had 
for  a  stud-groom  a  North-of-Ireland  man,  Peters  by  name. 
He  had  very  heavy  hands  and  his  seat  was  something 
shocking,  on  account  of  which  I  seldom  permitted  him  to 
mount  a  colt  or  hunter.  When,  however,  he  did  go  out, 
I  was  always  struck  with  the  fact  that  he  brought  his  horse 
home  in  better  condition  than  any  other  groom  I  ever  had. 
During  all  the  years  he  was  in  my  employ,  I  doubt  if  he 
ever  struck  one  of  the  twelve  stallions  which  during  that 
time  were  under  his  entire  charge.  One  of  them,  Mac- 
beth, a  thoroughbred,  was,  as  I  learned  after  he  came  into 
my  possession,  a  man-killer.  He  had  killed  one  stable-man, 
and  several  others  had  had  very  narrow  escapes  from  his 


246     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

vicious  temper.  I  had  an  experience  of  my  own  to  show 
that  Macbeth  had  not  improved  in  temper,  when  I  was 
driving  one  day,  with  another  man  than  Peters  leading  him 
behind  a  two-wheeled  top-cart,  to  a  stallion  show  at 
Geneseo.  The  vicious  beast  suddenly  reared  and  struck 
both  fore  feet  through  the  leather  top  of  the  cart,  which 
was  up  at  the  time,  evidently  with  most  wicked  intent, 
tipping  over  the  trap  and  throwing  us  both  into  the  road. 
The  whole  top  of  the  cart  was  torn  off,  the  stallion's  feet 
fast  tangled  in  the  bows  of  the  top.  That  we  were  not 
killed  was  no  fault  of  the  stallion.  When,  however, 
Peters  arrived  upon  the  scene,  the  savage  beast,  seemingly 
at  a  word,  became  as  quiet  as  a  lamb,  allowing  himself  to  be 
handled  and  led  away  by  his  groom  under  perfect  control. 
Probably  every  one  who  has  had  much  to  do  with  horses 
can  cite  similar  experiences  from  his  own  observation. 
Whence  comes  this  power,  this  magic  influence  ? 

This  interesting  subject  was  first  forcibly  suggested  to 
me  by  the  actions  of  an  old  favourite  driving-mare.  She 
had  been  in  my  family  many  years,  and,  it  is  safe  to  say, 
had  been  in  harness  or  under  saddle  on  an  average  of  once 
a  day  during  all  that  time.  A  few  years  ago  we  began  to 
notice  that  when  Sunday  came  the  old  mare  would  turn  of 
her  own  accord  toward  church,  and  that  if  I  was  going  to 
a  train  she  invariably  turned  in  the  direction  of  the  station. 
Her  usual  errand  to  town  was  to  the  post-otfice,  where  she 
probably  went  nine  times  out  of  ten.  The  station  re- 
quired a  turn  to  the  left,  the  church  a  turn  to  the  right, 
while  the  post-office  was  farther  on  in  a  direct  road.  We 
have  assigned  many  reasons  for  this  seeming  intelligence  on 


Mind-power  Horsemanship  247 

the  part  of  the  old  mare,  but  none  of  them  except  that  of 
the  mind  of  the  rider  or  driver's  having  some  influence  over 
her  action  fits  all  the  circumstances.  With  this  suggestion, 
I  began  one  day  to  go  over  my  experience  in  the  saddle,  and 
the  education  of  colts  and  the  schooling  of  hunters,  and  I 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  this  mind-power  theory  gives  the 
only  satisfactory  answer  to  many  knotty  problems  concern- 
ing horses  and  horsemanship.  For  instance,  in  hunting  it 
is  everywhere  noticeable  that,  when  ridden  by  some  men, 
horses  that  are  only  soft  green  things  or  colts  come  out 
of  a  run  in  remarkably  fresh  condition  as  compared  with 
some  old  seasoned  hunters  that  are,  as  they  say  in  England, 
"as  hard  as  nails."  Some  heavy  men,  those  who,  for 
example,  ride  at  a  hundred  and  eighty  or  two  hundred 
pounds,  bring  their  horses  in  comparatively  fresher  than 
those  ridden  by  lighter  men  and  better  riders.  I  am  per- 
suaded that  this  better  condition  after  a  hard  run  cannot  be 
accounted  for  by  hands  or  seat.  Again,  it  is  the  experience 
of  some  riders  that  they  can  ride  a  horse  through  a  severe 
run  with  the  least  possible  fatigue  to  themselves.  I  have 
always  been  rather  shy  about  saying  it,  because  it  seemed 
contrary  to  reason ;  but  I  am  going  to  say  it  now  :  I  can 
ride  a  horse  fifty,  sixty,  or  even  seventy  miles  in  a  day, 
which  shall  include  a  run  to  hounds,  and  not  feel  more 
fatigued  at  the  end  than  from  a  ride  of  ten,  twelve,  or 
eighteen  miles  in  a  carriage;  and  I  find  now  and  then  a 
person  who  reports  a  similar  experience.  I  believe  this  is 
owing  to  a  mutual  compensation  between  rider  and  horse. 
I  have  also  remarked  that  when  I  watch  a  run  from  a 
carriage   I  go  home  quite  worn  out.      I  help,  in  imagina- 


248     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

tion,  every  horse  I  see  jumping,  that  is  to  say,  ride  each 
one,  mentally,  just  as  if  I  were  on  his  back.  After  an  hour 
of  this  sort  of  riding  I  am  quite  fatigued.  I  believe  that 
it  is  due  to  the  fact  that  I  have  not  actually  had  a  horse 
under  me  from  whom  to  receive  the  necessary  compen- 
sation. 

May  it  not  be  this  very  power  we  have  been  discussing, 
more  than  "  hands,"  that  makes  a  horse  stop  pulling  as  soon 
as  a  person  has  been  up  long  enough  to  obtain  the  animal's 
consent  to  be  governed  ?  This  is  not,  of  course,  to  say  that 
a  man  who  has  a  bad  seat  and  is  all  the  time  nagging  at 
his  horse's  mouth  can  by  the  mere  exercise  of  his  will 
make  his  horse  cease  pulling.  We  hear  everywhere 
"  hands  "  called  a  gift,  truly  enough  ;  but  may  good  hands 
not  owe  their  existence  more  to  a  gift  of  mind  power  than 
to  mere  skill  in  handling  ?  May  it  not  be  owing  to  this 
mind-power  control  over  animals  that  many  lady  riders 
have  over  their  mounts  what,  in  the  absence  of  horseman- 
ship, we  call  a  "  charmed  life  "  in  the  saddle  ? 

We  hear  everywhere  among  hunting  men  a  great  deal 
about  lifting  one's  horse  at  a  jump,  the  expression,  which 
is  a  common  one,  conveying  the  idea  that  this  is  done  by 
an  actual  pull  at  the  bit.  Never  was  a  more  absurd  notion 
entertained.  One  might  as  well  say  a  man  could  climb  a 
pole  and  pull  the  pole  up  after  him.  If  the  phrase,  how- 
ever, means  that  by  the  mind  power  of  control  a  man  can 
assist  a  horse,  I  do  not  dispute  it,  for  it  seems  to  me  that, 
from  the  very  use  of  the  expression  so  frequently,  riders  are 
conscious  of  rendering  great  assistance  to  a  horse  at  the 
moment  of  going  over  a  fence.     It  is  by  a  lift,  to  be  sure. 


Mind-power  Horsemanship  249 

but  by  a  lift  of  the  will,  or  by  the  mind's  power  of  control. 
In  the  case  of  the  heavy-weights  who  in  every  hunt  club 
get  across  country  with  more  ease  to  themselves  and  to  their 
mounts,  and  with  less  fatigue  to  both,  than  many  of 
the  lighter  men,  in  spite  of  all  sorts  of  reasons  assigned, 
may  not  the  truth  be  that  such  riders,  conscious  of  their 
weight,  in  some  way  aid  their  horses  by  their  mind's  power 
of  control  ? 

I  never  yet  met  a  hunting  man,  or  any  man  who  had 
much  to  do  with  horses,  who  did  not  believe  that  a  rider,  by 
losing  his  nerve  at  a  fence,  almost  invariably  caused  his  horse 
to  refuse  the  jump.  Conversely,  if  it  is  admitted  that  a  horse 
can  be  influenced  by  fear  in  the  t?iind  of  his  rider,  why 
should  not  the  animal  feel  the  effects  of  the  opposite  men- 
tal state,  namely,  confidence  or  courage  on  the  part  of  his 
master  ?  What  means  can  a  horse  possibly  possess  of  feel- 
ing the  state  of  his  rider's  mind  which  do  not  equally  apply 
to  the  interpretation  of  any  of  the  other  power  manifesta- 
tions we  have  mentioned  ? 

The  great  T.  Assheton  Smith  came  very  near  hitting  the 
nail  on  the  head  when  he  said:  "Throw  your  heart  over 
the  fence,  and  your  horse  will  follow  it."  I  would  respect- 
fully beg  to  amend  that  saying,  in  the  light  of  mind-power 
control,  by  making  it  run  :  "  Throw  your  horse  over  the 
fence,  and  stay  with  him  the  best  way  you  can  in  the 
flight." 

We  have  attempted  to  show  that  there  must  be  not  only 
consent  on  the  part  of  the  mount,  but  will  on  the  part  of 
the  rider,  to  insure  control ;  that  some  men  can  ride 
a  horse  as  if  he  were  an  engine,  the  horse,  in  such  a  case. 


250    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

having  no  assistance  whatever,  since  none  can  be  had  with- 
out the  desire  to  give  it.  The  next  point  is,  how  can  one 
train  a  horse  so  as  to  have  over  him  the  power  of  control 
to  which  I  refer  ?  I  reply  in  two  words  —  by  confidence. 
Confidence  presupposes  consent.  To  obtain  that  end,  there 
must  be  an  entire  absence  of  fear  on  the  horse's  part.  I 
have  not  struck  a  horse  or  colt  with  a  whip  in  fifteen  years, 
except,  perhaps,  a  crack  of  the  crop  when  he  was  going  at 
his  fence  in  a  shifty  gait  that  showed  he  was  in  a  change- 
able state  of  mind. 

In  schooling  a  horse,  there  is  nothing,  as  I  said  in  the 
chapter  on  training,  like  throwing  him  down.  It  does  not 
hurt  him  or  frighten  him,  and  from  that  moment  he  has 
the  greatest  respect  for  you,  and  begins  to  believe  in  you. 
He  has  seen  a  practical  demonstration  of  your  power. 
You  are,  in  other  words,  obtaining  his  consent  to  be 
governed. 

In  advancing  a  theory  of  mind-power  horsemanship,  I 
have  given  free  rein  to  what  is  not,  I  am  convinced,  alto- 
gether fanciful  speculation,  in  the  hope  that  readers,  once 
their  attention  is  directed  to  the  subject,  may  be  induced 
to  experiment  on  their  own  account.  If  the  hypothesis 
stands  the  necessary  tests,  it  may  teach  horsemen  practical 
lessons,  to  the  mutual  advantage  of  themselves  and  their 
mounts.  For  myself,  I  believe  that  such  a  mind  power  of 
control  does  exist,  in  greater  or  less  degree,  in  nearly  every 
one,  and  is  undoubtedly  susceptible  of  cultivation.  At  any 
rate,  when  one  considers  its  efficacy,  as  powerful  as  it  is  subtle 
in  given  instances,  the  least  that  can  be  said  of  it  is  that 
it  is  worth  trying  for. 


XXIII 
DRIVING   TO    HOUNDS 


"  Oh,  bear  me,  some  kind  power  invisible. 
To  that  extended  lawn  where  the  gay  court 
View  the  swift  racers  stretching  to  the  goal!  " 

SOMERVILLE 


.      XXIII 
DRIVING    TO    HOUNDS 

AN    INTERESTING     PASTIME THE     DOCTOR    AND    THE     LITTLE 

MARE A    REMARKABLE     SPILL 

BOOK  of  this  kind  would  hardly  be  com- 
plete if  it  failed  to  mention  an  interesting  it 
not  an  exciting  feature  of  hunting  ;  that  is, 
the  viewing  of  the  chase,  or  as  much  of  it 
as  may  be  possible,  from  carriages  driven  along  the  high- 
way. As  most  persons'  introduction  to  hunting  is  accom- 
plished in  this  way,  I  venture  to  take  a  drive  with  my 
readers  through  such  a  first  run,  and  I  cannot  better  do 
this  than  by  giving  an  account  of  my  own  first  acquain- 
tance with  the  sport. 

Early  in  the  eighties  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  move 
into  that  beautiful  and  fertile  section  of  country  known  as 
the  Genesee  Valley,  and  to  see  soon  after  a  hunt  for  the 
first  time  in  my  life  —  the  famous  Genesee  Valley  Hunt, 
riding  cross  country  to  hounds.  My  ideas  of  fox-hunting 
had  hitherto  been  of  the  vaguest.  I  remember  thinking 
that  all  other  ways  than  going  after  foxes  with  a  gun  must 
be  unbecoming  to  a  sportsman. 

My  good  friend  the  Doctor  invited  me  one  day  to  ride 

253 


2  54     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

out  with  him  to  see  a  fox-hunt.  The  thought  of  going 
hunting  in  a  buggy  was  quite  foreign  to  my  ideas  of  sport, 
and  I  had  less  than  half  a  heart  in  accepting  the  invitation. 
The  Doctor,  on  the  other  hand,  was  brimful  of  enjoyment. 
He  was  not  a  riding  man  himself,  the  large  rotundity  of 
his  figure  forbidding  any  activity  in  the  saddle,  but  a  keener 
sportsman  or  a  more  enthusiastic  one  it  would  have  been 
hard  to  find.  The  meet  was  at  the  Hermitage,  and  we 
were,  unfortunately,  too  late  to  see  the  assembly.  Hounds 
had  gone  on  to  draw  the  Hermitage  Wood.  The  doctor 
was  in  a  great  state  of  agitation  to  think  we  had  missed  the 
meet.  However,  we  drove  down  the  farm  lane  behind 
the  Fitzhugh  manor-house,  with  a  mere  chance  of  their 
coming  north.  In  the  meantime  the  good  Doctor  expa- 
tiated to  me  on  the  subject  of  this  "  grand  pack  of  hounds," 
this  "oldest  hunt,"  "best  horses,"  and  "best  cross-country 
riders  in  America,"  working  himself  up  to  a  higher  and 
higher  pitch  because  I  responded  only  in  the  most  indiffer- 
ent manner.  He  tried  harder  and  harder  to  make  me 
appreciate  the  splendid  opportunity  I  was  enjoying.  All 
at  once  he  brought  his  little  black  mare  Kitty  to  a  stand- 
still and  listened. 

"  I  hear  them  !  "  he  shouted,  and  stood  up  in  his  buggy 
—  a  little  side-bar  spider-like  trap.  I  remember  thinking 
what  would  the  Doctor  do  on  a  runway  after  deer  or  wild 
turkey  in  the  great  forests  of  Michigan,  if  he  made  all  this 
fuss  over  a  fox. 

"  I  do  believe  they  are  coming  this  way  !  "  cried  the  Doc- 
tor.     "  Don't  you  hear  them  }" 

"Sit  down!"  I  cried, "or  you  will  be  out  on  your  head." 


Driving  to  Hounds  255 

I  hoped  no  one  would  see  us,  for  surely  the  Doctor 
would  have  been  thought  crazy  or  drunk,  he  was  so 
completely  transformed  from  his  usual  dignified  manner. 
When  he  entered  a  patient's  house  or  walked  the  streets  he 
carried  himself  like  a  churchwarden  taking  the  Sunday 
collection;  yet,  to  see  him  now,  one  might  have  thought 
him  a  boy  of  eight  waiting  for  his  father  to  come  home 
with  fire-crackers  and  punk  for  a  Fourth-of-July  cele- 
bration. 

"  I  believe  they  are  coming  this  way  !  "  And  again  the 
Doctor  stood  up,  and  I  looked  round  to  see  if  any  one 
could  see  us. 

"  I  hear  them  !  "  he  cried  at  last;  and  then  he  clutched 
me  by  the  collar  for  support,  and  stood  up  on  the  cushion. 
I  expected  every  moment  to  see  him  lose  his  balance  and 
go  headlong.  It  was  a  sight  to  make  one  tremble  —  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds  and  six  feet  balancing 
itself  on  the  cushions  of  a  side-bar  buggy  and  gesticulating 
wildly. 

"  Sit  down  !  "  I  cried.  "  Your  mare  will  start  and  pitch 
you  out." 

He  stepped  down  at  last,  and  called  to  his  great  pointer 
Sancho  to  jump  into  the  waggon.  There  stood  the  little 
mare,  with  ears  sharp  ahead,  and  the  pointer  with  his  fore 
feet  on  the  dash-board,  looking  first  into  the  Doctor's  face 
and  then  in  the  direction  indicated  by  his  extended 
finger. 

"  Here  they  come  !  Here  they  come  !  "  shouted  the 
Doctor,  as  a  dozen  hounds  came  tumbling  over  the  fence 
on  the   far   side   of  a   great   level  meadow.      "  Here  they 


256     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

come  !  "  And  twenty  couples  or  more  came  charging  across 
the  field,  followed  by  thirty-five  or  forty  riders. 

Instantly,  I  must  confess,  I  was  carried  away  with  de- 
light. There  could  not  be  a  prettier  picture  of  a  hunt. 
On  came  the  hounds,  heads  down,  working  like  pointers 
along  the  line  across  the  field  directly  toward  us.  They 
were  upon  us  in  a  moment,  jumping  from  the  field  into 
the  lane  and  out  of  the  lane  into  another  field  within  a  few 
rods  of  where  we  stood.  The  Doctor  put  about,  and  away 
we  raced  little  Kitty  out  of  the  lane,  into  the  highway, 
and  down  the  road  on  a  dead  run.  The  mud  flew  like 
sparks  from  a  pinwheel  twenty  feet  in  every  direction, 
plastering  our  backs.  "  No  matter  ;  rub  it  off  when  it  gets 
dry  !  "  cried  the  Doctor.      "  We  must  have  another  view." 

Presently  up  behind  us  came  Miss  F with  a  friend, 

a  lady,  driving  a  pair  of  thoroughbreds  harnessed  to  a  buck- 
board,  the  horses  running  as  fast  as  they  could  lay  foot  to 
the  mud.  The  sight  of  these  young  ladies  as  they  passed 
us,  the  lines  lying  loose  on  the  backs  of  the  charging 
steeds,  was  enough  to  electrify  a  stone. 

"  That  's  the  sort !  "  shouted  the  Doctor.     "  Go  on  !  " 

A  smile  and  a  nod,  and  away  they  flew  again.  The 
Doctor  let  out  another  link  in  the  little  mare's  speed,  and, 
be  it  said  to  the  credit  of  the  gamest  bit  of  horse-flesh  of 
her  inches  I  ever  saw,  the  little  mare  raced  on  for  half  a 
mile  to  the  turn  in  the  road  to  Mount  Morris,  setting  the 
pace  for  Miss  F 's  thoroughbreds. 

A  dozen  carriages  were  waiting  at  this  turn.  The 
hounds  were  at  fault  only  a  moment,  however,  and  finally 
crossed  the  Mount   Morris   road   and  went   straight  along 


ba 


o 


Driving  to  Hounds  257 

the  east  side  of  the  river  toward  Geneseo.  On  rushed  the 
Doctor,  the  pointer,  with  his  fore  feet  still  on  the  dash- 
board, barking  at  every  one  we  passed.  Crossing  the  high- 
way on  to  the  Able  farm,  we  saw  three  or  four  riders  go  to 
grass.  On  went  the  huntsmen.  On  v/ent  the  carriages, 
strung  out  like  a  funeral  procession  for  length,  but  all  with 
horses  galloping  madly.  And  on  raced  the  Doctor,  until  he 
headed  the  procession.  I  have  been  run  away  with  several 
times,  but  I  never  again  travelled  so  fast  in  a  buggy  as  I 
did  on  this  wild  occasion.  In  jumping  into  the  highway 
crossing  the  Geneseo  road,  some  one  with  his  horse's  nose 
drawn  down  into  his  chest  caught  his  mount's  knees  on 
the  top  rail  and  turned  a  complete  somersault;  and  inciden- 
tally I  learned  the  most  useful  lesson  to  be  taught  in  the 
hunting-field.  It  was  plain  even  to  my  inexperienced  eyes 
that  the  horse  was  thrown  by  its  rider. 

On  a  little  farther  we  assisted  at  an  extraordinary  per- 
formance, and  brought  our  race  to  an  end.  A  pair  of 
farm-horses  which  were  attached  to  a  lumber-waggon 
with  an  empty  box  became  frightened  at  all  the  hue  and 
cry,  and  ran  away  toward  Geneseo.  They  were  flying 
along  the  edge  of  the  beaten  track  just  ahead  of  us,  when 
suddenly,  the  right  fore  wheel  striking  a  large  stump  on 
the  side  of  the  road,  up  went  the  box  free  of  the  waggon, 
described  a  somersault  through  the  air,  and  landed  on  the 
ground  with  the  farmer  under  it.  The  horses  never  halted. 
The  Doctor  and  I,  when  we  arrived  at  the  overturned  box, 
could  hear  the  farmer  underneath  yelling  like  an  Indian, 
We  jumped  out  of  our  waggon,  and  on  tipping  up  the  box 
out  came  the  farmer  on  his  hands  and  knees,  white  as  a 


258     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

sheet  but  not  injured  in  the  least.  I  record  this  as  the 
most  extraordinary  thing  I  ever  beheld,  and  as  an  exag- 
gerated instance  of  what  one  may  see  driving  to  the  hunt. 

As  for  the  Doctor  and  me,  we  were  a  rare  sight.  We 
dug  the  mud  out  of  our  necks  and  ears  and  eyes,  and  started 
for  home,  telling  each  other  over  and  over  again  the  events 
of  the  day.  The  gamy  little  mare  that  drew  us  came  in 
for  no  small  share  of  our  comments.  There  would  come  a 
pause,  when  the  Doctor's  face  would  kindle  and  he  would 
break  out  laughing  again  with :  "  But  how  the  little 
mare  did  go  !  " 

Thus  ended  my  first  drive  to  hounds.  Needless  to  say, 
it  was  not  long  before  I  had  out  a  saddle  and  began  prac- 
tising jumping  on  my  own  account.  I  got  a  saddle  on  a 
driving-horse  back  on  the  farm,  and  had  my  first  jumping 
lessons  out  of  sight.  My  early  training  at  bareback  riding 
stood  me  in  good  stead,  and  before  I  was  much  older  I 
was  by  way  of  becoming  a  hunting  man  myself.  I  practised 
with  more  and  more  enthusiasm  till  my  good  wife  heard  of 
my  doings  and  interposed. 

"  Now  you  must  promise,"  she  protested,  "  you  will 
never  ride  in   the  hunts." 

A  hand  clinched  each  lapel  of  my  coat  persuadingly, 
and  after  some  hedging  I  found  I  had  no  alternative  but 
to  promise. 

I  took  her  to  see  a  run  herself  one  day  not  long  after,  and 
my  lady  was  enthusiastic.  "What  beautiful  horses!"  she 
exclaimed.  "  I  wish  you  had  one  for  me  to  ride."  I  prom- 
ised readily  to  get  one.  Fortunately  we  had  seen  no  falls. 
"  Ah,  if  I  were  a  man,"  she  declared,  "  I  should  have  to  ride." 


Driving  to  Hounds  250 

I  suggested  warily  that  although  she  was  not  a  man  I 
was,  and  that  — 

"  Now  stop,"  she  interrupted.  "  I  believe  this  is  all  a 
trap  just  to  get  my  consent." 

"  It 's  a  trap,  maybe,  but  you  've  walked  into  it  unassisted, 
Madame,"  I  had  the  pleasure  of  retorting.  May  every 
married  man  succeed  as  easily  as  I  did  in  getting  his  wife's 
consent  to  his  hunting  ! 

I  never  forgot,  however,  the  excitement  and  interest  of 
driving  to  hounds,  which  can  be  recommended  as  rare  sport 
and  diversion  for  all  who  for  any  reason  cannot  ride.  It 
affords  one  an  abundance  of  exciting  spectacle  and,  if  one 
iceeps  an  eye  alert,  not  a  little  instruction  in  the  points,  both 
major  and  minor,  of  cross-country  riding. 


XXIV 

OFFICERS    AND    HUNT    ASSISTANTS 


"The  huntsman  in  front  on  the  bay 

Flies  on  like  a  boy  at  his  play. 
He  counts  the  good  pack  speeding  over  the  plain. 
And  grins  as  he  looks  for  a  skirter  in  vain. 
He  says  to  the  whip,  '  They  are  at  it  again, 

Hark  forrard,  hark  forrard  away.' 

POEMS    IN   PINK 


XXIV 
OFFICERS    AND    HUNT    ASSISTANTS 

THE    M.F.H.  THE     HUNTSMAN THE    WHIPPERS-IN THE     KENNEL 

HUNTSMAN THE    EARTH-STOPPER 

(HE  office  of  Master  of  Foxhounds  has  never 
reached  the  exalted  rank  in  America  that  it 
has  in  England,  but  the  duties  of  the  office 
are  for  the  most  part  the  same  in  both  coun- 
tries. Few  people,  even  a  large  number  of  those  who  ride 
to  hounds,  have  more  than  a  confused  idea  of  what  these  du- 
ties are.  Enough  has  already  been  said  on  the  question  of 
the  breeding  and  management  of  hounds  to  show  that  in  this 
field  alone  they  are  no  trifling  matter.  In  addition  there  is 
the  oversight  of  the  breeding  of  horses,  invariably  accom- 
panying an  established  hunt,  as  well  as  many  social  duties 
and  a  large  correspondence.  There  are  also  the  various 
executive  duties  involved  in  the  administration  of  hunt 
affairs.  The  enormous  expenses  of  at  least  one  hunt  in 
America  are  borne  by  the  M.F.H.,  who  not  only  owns 
the  hounds,  but  pays  all  the  bills  involved  in  running  the 
stud  and  kennels,  the  members  of  the  hunt  paying  only  a 
dollar  a  year  each.  The  expense  of  a  hunt  club  cannot 
come  far  short  of  five  hundred  dollars  for  every  day  that 
hounds  hunt. 

263 


264     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

Enough  has  also  been  said  about  horse-breeding  to  show 
that  although  it  is  in  no  way  to  be  compared  with  hound- 
breeding  it  is  no  small  item  in  the  account  where  the 
Master  undertakes  not  only  to  provide  himself  but  also  the 
huntsman  and  whippers-in  with  mounts  —  three  or  four  each 
—  and  have  half  a  dozen  extra  horses  for  bye-days  and  for 
friends  and  guests.  No  one  who  has  seen  an  M.F.H.  in  the 
full  discharge  of  his  social  and  official  capacities,  or  recalls 
what  he  has  done  in  the  breeding  and  development  of  the 
hound  and  the  management  of  the  pack,  can  fail  to  appreciate 
'  his  labours  or  help  being  stimulated  to  make  them  as  light 
as  possible.  We  shall  see  the  Master  in  his  official  capa- 
city at  the  consultation  of  war  and  at  the  covert-side,  and 
at  the  meet  as  well  as  at  the  hunt  dinner  in  his  social  aspects. 

Of  the  huntsman  it  has  been  said  that  "  from  the  fox 
he  learns  cunning,  from  the  hounds  sagacity,"  which  indi- 
cates the  combination  of  qualities  necessary  in  him.  Occa- 
sionally a  Master  hunts  his  own  hounds,  but  more  often  a 
salaried  huntsman  is  employed,  one  whose  long  years  of 
experience  as  whipper-in  make  him  a  past  master  in  the 
art.  His  qualifications,  like  those  of  the  hounds  that  assist 
him  and  the  horse  that  carries  him,  are  of  a  high  order. 
He  plays  against  the  craftiest  and  longest-headed  animal  of 
field  or  forest.  Every  plot  of  cunning  Renard  to  elude  his 
pursuers  the  huntsman  must  meet  with  a  counter-plot. 
He  must  have  the  woodcraft,  the  ear  and  nose,  of  an  Indian. 

Most  huntsmen,  we  believe,  prefer  to  approach  covert 
"down-wind,"  for  two  reasons:  first,  since  no  sportsman 
wishes  to  have  a  fox  "  chopped "  in  covert,  to  give  the 
fox  timely  warning  ;  second,  because,  while  a  fox  is  a  very 


-a 
o 


> 
o 


IS 
o 


officers  and  Hunt  Assistants  265 

timid  animal  and  almost  anything  turns  his  course  once 
he  is  on  the  way,  he  hates  to  break  covert,  and  will  often 
return  to  it  even  if  he  has  to  run  among  the  riders  and  the 
hounds  themselves  to  accomplish  his  purpose.  In  the 
former  case,  of  course  our  huntsman  has  sent  the  first 
whipper-in  ahead  to  take  up  a  position  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  covert  in  the  best  position  attainable  to  view  a 
fox  away  when  he  breaks.  Approaching  covert  down- 
wind also  affords  him  an  opportunity  to  go  away  in  the 
other  direction, —  up-wind, —  which,  giving  him  more 
timely  warning  of  approaching  danger,  is  his  natural  way 
of  travelling.  Leaving  very  little  scent  behind  him  when 
he  begins  to  travel  and  when  sleeping  quietly,  the  fox 
seems  to  know  that  hounds  may  fairly  run  over  him  with- 
out detecting  him,  and  the  huntsman  finds  it  very  impor- 
tant to  make  the  best  of  a  light  scent  on  a  day  when  scent 
is  likely  to  be  poor.  In  such  cases  the  covert  is  drawn  up- 
wind, to  get  the  hounds  as  close  on  their  fox  as  possible. 
It  is  considered  justifiable  by  most  huntsmen,  when  the 
first  whipper-in  or  a  rider  views  away  a  fox  under  such  con- 
ditions, to  "  lift "  the  hounds  on,  out  of  covert,  as  quickly, 
and  lay  them  to  the  line  as  far  ahead,  as  possible.  The 
fox  may  have  broken  covert  up-wind,  but  it  is  only  a  mat- 
ter of  time  when  he  turns  short  down-wind,  probably 
owing  to  his  being  persuaded  that  since  he  really  is  pur- 
sued, it  is  the  better  part  of  valour  to  trust  to  luck  for  what 
may  be  ahead  and  put  himself  sharp  down-wind  in  order 
to  keep  the  longest  ear  to  the  hounds  and  what  is  coming 
after.  A  fox  is  crafty  in  this  also,  that  he  dislikes  being 
made  to  do  anything  not  in  his  first  matured  plan.      This 


266     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

usually  is  to  reach  security  in  the  nearest  earth  or  covert, 
and  therefore  in  changing  his  course  down-wind  he  runs 
at  a  distance  determined  by  the  extreme  limit  of  his  hearing 
powers.  Then  when  hounds  check  he  can  generally  stop 
running,  and  if  not  pressed  turn  at  last  to  make  the  point 
he  had  in  mind  when  he  left  covert.  It  is  for  this  reason 
knowing  riders  when  they  arrive  at  covert  take  up  a  posi- 
tion, if  possible,  on  the  down-wind  side,  especially  if  Ren- 
ard  went  away  at  all  across  the  wind;  —  all  of  which  goes 
to  show  that  a  huntsman  must  form  quickly  an  idea  of  the 
plans  working  in  the  mind  of  his  hunted  fox.  The  con- 
clusions to  be  drawn  from  the  way  he  left  covert ;  from  the 
scent  in  the  first  few  fields  ;  from  his  age,  sex,  and  condi- 
tion for  running ;  from  a  hundred  and  one  things  a  novice 
would  never  think  of  looking  for,  must  be  to  him  an 
open  book. 

A  keen  huntsman,  from  the  characteristics  of  every 
hound  in  the  pack,  learns  in  the  first  half-hour  much  as  to 
the  special  tactics  he  will  have  to  deal  with  in  his  fox. 
Perhaps  the  fox  is  a  "  ringer,"  one  the  huntsman  thinks 
he  has  chased  before,  since  his  plan  is  identical  with  the 
last  one  they  chased  from  this  same  covert  and  lost ;  and 
he  is  ready,  from  experience,  with  his  counter-plot.  Thomas 
Smith  gives  an  account  of  a  huntsman  who,  on  finding  he 
was  for  a  second  or  third  time  after  a  ringer,  stopped  the 
hounds,  went  the  other  way  around,  and  met  Mr.  Renard 
face  to  face.  They  viewed  him  away,  and  in  due  time  he 
was  sent  to  the  land  of  his  fathers.  An  experienced  hunts- 
man seems  to  know  instinctively  when  the  hounds  are  at 
fault. 


officers  and  Hunt  Assistants  267 

After  the  manner  of  chess-players,  Renard  and  the 
huntsman  first  try  the  ordinary  moves  of  the  game,  such  as, 
on  Renard's  part,  running  in  rings,  or  trying  for  some 
open  earth  he  knows.  In  this  case  the  earth-stopper  also 
knows  about  them,  and,  directed  by  the  huntsman,  has  been 
there  during  the  night — while  Renard  prowled  the  country 
—  and  stopped  them.  Again,  if  Renard  runs  to  and  finds 
an  open  earth,  especially  in  the  beginning  of  a  run,  he  may 
not  really  enter  it  to  stay :  he  would  like,  of  all  things,  to 
have  the  hunt  stop  and  dig  him  out  when  he  is  miles  away. 
In  this  case  the  huntsman's  move  is  a  wide,  careful  cast 
about  the  earth  till  the  hounds  discover  the  line  again  and 
are  off.  These  are  preliminary  moves.  Later  in  the  game 
he  will  break  straight  away  for  some  distant  covert  where 
he  knows  for  a  certainty  a  particular  fox,  a  friend  of  his, 
always  kennels  in  the  day.  With  a  wink  of  "  the  other  eye," 
he  flourishes  his  brush  at  the  hounds  and  sails  straight  for 
that  particular  covert.  Awaking  his  friend  from  a  sound 
sleep,  he  gives  him  an  account  of  a  thousand  hounds  that 
are  coming  after,  says  he  just  dropped  in  to  give  a  timely 
warning  to  run  for  life,  and  away  also  goes  his  friend,  the 
first  hunted  fox  slipping  quietly  to  one  side  and  lying  down 
to  rest.  It  is  an  old  move  and  has  worked  beautifully  on 
many  occasions.  But  the  huntsman  also  knows  a  thing  or 
two;  he  has  noted  that  the  older  hounds  hesitated  at  a  certain 
point,  while  the  younger  ones  took  up  the  line.  This  can 
have  only  one  interpretation.  "Toot-toot!"  he  goes  on 
his  horn,  and  the  whippers-in  are  off  like  shot  out  of  a  gun 
to  head  off  the  pack  and  turn  them  back  to  where  the 
huntsman  calls  them. 


268     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

"Get  back,  Browso!  Back,  Smuggler!"  shout  the 
whippers-in,  with  much  cracking  of  their  double  thongs. 

The  instant  the  hounds  are  collected,  the  huntsman 
takes  them  back  to  the  point  where  the  older  hounds  hesi- 
tated. Sure  enough  !  Tinbush  hits  off  the  line  of  the 
hunted  fox  with  a  cry  of  joy  that  brings  every  hound  to 
her  side.  Away  they  go  again,  making  the  forest  echo 
with  the  clamour  of  their  musical  tongues. 

Meanwhile  Renard  has  been  having  a  rest,  enjoying  his 
laugh  at  the  hounds  and  his  good  joke  on  his  friend.  Now 
he  hears  the  pack  returning,  and  begins  to  realise  his  scheme 
has  failed.  Yet  he  has  caused  a  check  and  recovered  his 
second  wind.  With  another  flourish  of  his  brush,  another 
knowing  look,  he  steals  away  along  the  furrow  of  a  half- 
ploughed  field.  On  goes  the  chase.  Again  the  hounds  are 
getting  too  near  for  comfort.  Renard  now  stops,  jumps  as 
wide  as  he  can  to  the  right,  runs  on  a  little  way,  and  lies 
down  again ;  or  runs  back  in  the  very  tracks  he  came  in. 
The  hounds  coming  on  at  a  fearful  pace  go  a  hundred 
yards  or  more  over  the  end  of  the  line.  Their  heads  go 
up,  their  music  ceases.  Again  they  are  at  a  check.  But 
the  huntsman,  not  checkmated  yet  by  any  means,  recalls  that 
a  little  way  back  Bluebells  made  a  sharp  fling  to  the  right. 
He  said  "I  thought  so"  perhaps,  at  the  time,  but  always 
lets  his  hounds  make  their  own  cast  first  to  see  what  they 
can  do  without  his  assistance.  He  blows  his  horn  again, 
and,  with  a  wide  cast  back  to  where  Bluebells  made  her 
drive  to  the  right,  the  pack  again  hits  off  the  line.  Again 
Mr,  Renard  says,  "  Good  day,  gentlemen;  I  see  I  must  be 
moving,"  and  trots  off  in  a  leisurely  way  until  he  hears  the 
pack  once  more  upon  his  line  in  full  cry. 


^ 


73 
(J 


3 

o 
-a 


officers  and  Hunt  Assistants  26g 

Now  he  runs  through  a  field  where  cattle  or  sheep  are 
feeding,  to  destroy  his  line  by  entangling  it  with  the  scent 
of  the  tramping  beasts.  When  a  check  occurs  under  such 
circumstances  as  this  the  huntsman  is  considered  justified  in 
lifting  his  hounds  smartly  forward.  It  is  only  another  trial 
of  his  judgment.  In  all  the  confusion,  which  way  has  the 
fox  gone  ?  Thanks  to  experience  and  the  quick  hint  of 
instinct,  the  huntsman  in  most  cases  knows  to  a  certainty. 
Once  more  he  brings  order  out  of  chaos,  and  hounds  are 
again  settled  to  the  line.  Now  the  moves  in  the  game  are 
made  more  rapidly,  and  Renard,  growing  more  tired,  has 
less  choice  where  to  turn.  He  takes  to  water,  swimming 
the  brook  with  the  hounds  close  behind  him.  Ten  minutes 
more  of  riding,  and  then  Bluebells,  Forrester,  Bunco,  Tinbush, 
the  oldest  and  trustiest  noses  in  the  pack,  who,  like  the  wise 
old  hound  in  Somerville's  Chase,  have  until  now  been 
hanging  in  the  rear,  "  niggards  of  their  strength,"  are  seen 
charging  to  the  front  with  renewed  energy.  The  hunts- 
man knows  the  end  is  near.  The  fox's  strength  is  sinking. 
The  scent  grows  weaker,  and  only  the  older  hounds  can 
follow  it  —  eagerly,  to  be  sure,  since  they  know  by  experience 
what  its  weakness  portends. 

Now,  if  never  before  during  the  game,  must  the  hunts- 
man have  his  wits  about  him.  More  foxes  are  lost  when 
they  are  dead  tired,  especially  with  a  fast  pack  of  hounds, 
than  are  captured.  At  such  times  Renard  makes  his  last 
trick  move  against  the  hounds  under  their  very  noses, 
and  if  it  were  not  for  the  woodcraft  of  the  huntsman 
would  get  away  nine  times  in  ten.  There  is  another  check 
of  all  the  hounds,  save  old  Bluebells  and  Forrester.  The 
huntsman  plunges  ahead,  for  not  an  instant  is  to  be  lost  with 


270     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

a  sinking  fox.  He  leaves  the  whippers-in  to  bring  on  the 
pack  the  best  they  know  how,  and  rides  on  madly,  cheer- 
ing to  his  two  faithful  hounds.  A  check  again  :  as  they  come 
out  of  a  bit  of  woodland  into  more  open  country,  even 
Bluebells  and  Forrester  can  follow  no  farther.  Where  is 
Renard  gone?  West?  No;  a  man  is  ploughing  over 
there.  East  ?  No  ;  a  man  and  a  dog  are  quietly  crossing 
a  field  in  that  direction,  or  a  timber-waggon  is  passing 
along  the  highway.  Whatever  our  huntsman  does,  he 
takes  in  the  whole  situation  at  one  sweeping  glance,  and 
his  mind  is  made  up  instantly.  Ah  !  He  hears  a  jay-bird 
making  an  unusual  tumult  in  yonder  piece  of  wood  :  his 
fox  is  passing  near  it.  Or  the  crows  are  seen  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  away  making  a  swoop  toward  the  earth  :  they  are 
mobbing  the  tired  fox.  Or,  again,  in  a  still  more  distant 
field  a  flock  of  sheep  are  standing  with  heads  up  and  faces 
all  in  one  direction  :  Mr.  Renard  is  no  doubt  just  passing 
there. 

So  the  game  goes  on,  plot  against  counter-plot,  cunning 
against  woodcraft,  until  the  crafty  fox  wins  at  last  or  the 
hounds  have  accounted  for  him  by  tracking  him  to  earth. 
It  needs  little  more,  certainly,  to  show  the  reader  how 
important  the  huntsman  is  in  the  game.  What  we  have 
seen  him  do,  however,  is  not  the  half  of  what  he  is  expected 
to  do  and  know.  It  goes  without  saying,  too,  that  he 
must  be  a  very  superior  horseman  and  an  accomplished 
rider,  and  know  every  nook,  corner,  ditch,  and  ravine  of 
every  farm  for  twenty  miles  around. 

The  duties  of  whippers-in  are,  speaking  in  a  general 
way,  to  assist  the  huntsman    in    the   management   of  the 


officers  and  Hunt  Assistants 


271 


hounds.  The  special  duties  of  the  first  whipper-in  are 
hardly  less  important  than  those  of  the  huntsman.  Indeed, 
some  Masters  declare  that  if  they  could  have  but  one  high- 
class  man  with  hounds  they  would  prefer  that  man  to  be 
the  first  whipper-in  rather  than  the  huntsman. 

The  first  whipper-in  must  needs  be  everywhere,  nor 
spare  himself  or  his  mount.  He  must  keep  to  hounds,  and 
this  necessity  alone  requires  him  to  follow  them  over  almost 
impossible  obstacles.  He  is  obliged  to  ride  many  more 
miles  during  a  run  than  any  other  man  in  the  hunt,  and 
altogether  must  be  a  most  efficient  rider  and  without 
fear.  His  function  at  the  covert-side  is  to  go  ahead  and 
station  himself  in  such  a  position  as  will  enable  him  to 
view  the  fox  away.  The  second  whipper-in  usually 
accompanies  the  huntsman  into  covert  to  keep  the  hounds 
together,  prevent  their  running  riot,  and  see  when  the  fox 
finally  breaks  that  they  are  all  brought  on  to  the  line. 
The  correcting  of  hounds  falls  principally  to  him,  the 
huntsman  himself  being  a  sort  of  shelter  to  which  a  hound 
turns  instantly  he  is  chastised.  The  second  whipper-in 
must  be  not  only  a  fearless  rider,  but  a  thorough  horseman, 
too,  riding  always  to  save  his  horse. 

Another  important  officer  of  a  hunt  is  the  kennel  hunts- 
man, usually  the  huntsman  himself  or  some  one  grown  old 
in  the  service  of  the  hunt.  On  the  kennel  huntsman  rests 
a  responsibility  scarcely  less  grave  than  that  of  the  hunts- 
man or  the  Master,  We  treat  of  him  here  as  a  distinct 
and  separate  officer. 

The  Master  directs  the  selecting  and  breeding  of  hounds, 
but  kennel  management  depends  upon  the  kennel  hunts- 


272     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

man's  ability  to  carry  out  the  Master's  plans.  The  feeding 
of  thirty  or  fifty  couples  of  hounds  is  no  small  matter.  To 
keep  them  all  healthy,  to  doctor  the  ailing,  nurse  the 
invalids,  bandage  the  wounded,  care  for  the  bitches  in 
whelp,  for  the  puppies  at  birth  and  in  the  trying  age  of 
distemper,  requires  a  man  particularly  fitted  and  qualified. 
There  are,  further,  the  conditioning  of  hounds  as  the  hunt- 
ing season  approaches,  special  supervision  while  they  are 
hunting,  and  the  keeping  of  the  peace  among  them  at  all 
times  —  no  light  matter. 

According  to  Badminton,  in  hunting  five  days  in  a  week, 
as  many  packs  do  in  England,  seventy-five  couples  of  hounds 
are  required ;  for  four  days  a  week,  fifty-two  couples  ;  two 
days  a  week,  twenty-eight  couples.  The  annual  consump- 
tion of  food  for  seventy-five  couples  is  "  forty  tons  of  oatmeal, 
three  tons  of  dog-biscuits,  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  horses." 
These  figures  may  go  to  show  further  the  responsibility  of 
the  officer  in  charge  of  kennels  and  their  inmates.  The 
right  apportionment  of  food  is  a  delicate  business.  Over- 
training may  develope  temper  and  jealousy  and  other  dis- 
agreeable traits.  Altogether  hounds  need  as  much  watching 
and  care  as  a  lot  of  children  would.  Tinbush  and  Rol- 
licker  hate  each  other  ;  an  old  feud  exists  between  them. 
Tinbush  snaps  at  a  puppy,  and  Rollicker  comes  in,  think- 
ing now  is  his  time  to  pay  off  an  old  grudge.  Bradshaw, 
the  peacemaker,  attempts  to  correct  them  both,  and  in  half 
a  minute  a  dozen  hounds  are  fighting  to  the  death.  These 
battles  are  sometimes  very  desperate,  and  it  takes  a  cou- 
rageous man  to  go  among  the  combatants.  More  than  one 
kennel  huntsman  has  nearly  lost  his  life  in  attempting  to 


officers  and  Hunt  Assistants  273 

settle    these    disputes  when    once   the   blood   of  the   pack 
is   up. 

The  earth-stopper  is  usually  some  old  faithful  hunt  ser- 
vant who  has  seen  better  days,  possibly  an  assistant  about 
the  kennels.  In  England  he  is  generally  a  superannuated 
gamekeeper.  He  is  invariably  something  of  a  "  character," 
and  knows,  or  has  the  air  of  knowing,  more  about  foxes 
and  their  ways  and  about  hunting  generally  than  most  of 
the  men  who  ride  to  hounds.  During  the  summer  months 
he  and  his  pony  tramp  the  country  for  miles  around.  He 
knows  every  earth  and  every  litter  of  foxes  within  a 
radius  of  twenty  miles  or  more  of  the  kennels,  and  will 
tell  you  which  farmers  preserve  the  litters  and  v/hich 
trap    them. 

When,  on  the  evening  before  a  meet,  the  huntsman  and 
the  Master  have  held  a  council  of  war  and  decided  on  what 
particular  covert  they  will  draw,  the  earth-stopper  is 
instructed  accordingly;  and  soon  after  midnight,  when  the 
foxes  are  prowling  about  in  search  of  food,  he  mounts  his 
pony,  and,  with  a  lantern  on  his  arm  and  a  shovel  in  his 
hand  or  slung  on  his  back,  goes  the  rounds  of  all  the 
earths  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  covert  proposed  to  be 
drawn  on  the  morrow.  Arriving  at  an  earth,  he  collects, 
or  has  collected  on  the  way,  a  bundle  of  sticks  two  feet  or 
more  in  length.  These  he  binds  together  with  a  withe, 
and  crowds  them  into  the  earth,  usually  throwing  upon 
them  a  light  covering  of  loam,  his  task  sometimes  requir- 
ing half  the  night  and  a  ride  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles. 
After  the  hunt  he  goes  out  and  unstops  them  again,  unless 
for  some  reason  it  is  thought  best  to  keep  them   closed. 


2  74     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

These  nocturnal  reconnoitrings  of  an  old  earth-stopper  are 
the  cause  of  his  reflective  turn  of  mind,  probably,  and  help 
to  fill  his  brain  with  the  lore  and  opinions  that  make  him 
so  interesting  a  person,  in  winter  nights  or  other  leisure 
times,  with  whom  to  talk  it  all  over. 


XXV 
HORSE    COMPANIONSHIP 


'  A  nature  so  noble,  so  generous  and  kind. 
Can  only  be  meant  for  a  man  with  a  mind; 
A  nature  like  this  is  intended  to  blend 
With  minds  that  are  high,  and  be  counted  a  friend." 

POEMS   IN   PINK 


XXV 
HORSE    COMPANIONSHIP 

love    of    animals advice    to    beginners a   long    list  of 

"  don'ts  " 

HAVE  had  a  great  deal  to  say  about  confi- 
dence and  companionship  between  rider  and 
mount,  which  I  have  declared  to  be  better 
understood  in  England  than  in  America. 
The  average  American  seems  to  look  upon  a  horse  as  sim- 
ply a  convenience,  like  the  bicycle  or  the  trolley  cars,  a 
means  by  which  he  may  reach  his  destination  sooner  and 
with  less  fatigue  than  by  walking.  He  presses  a  button 
and  the  horse  is  brought  to  the  door,  and  when  he  is 
through  with  him  a  groom  takes  him  away  again.  The 
horse  does  not  attain  to  the  confidence  of  his  master  as  he 
does  in  England,  where  he  becomes  part  of  the  family. 
There  is  nothing  degrading  in  the  idea  of  companionship 
with  a  horse.  When  one  comes  to  think  of  it,  many  men 
and  some  women  not  infrequently  have  about  them  less 
edifying  associates  of  their  own  kind.  No  man,  woman,  or 
child  was  ever  the  worse  for  an  intimate  association  with  a 
well-bred  horse  or  dog. 

It  cannot  be  too  much  insisted  on  that  this  companion- 

277 


278    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

ship  between  horse  and  rider  is  the  very  essence  of  cross- 
country riding.  Whoever  has  failed  to  secure  the  confidence 
of  his  mount  and  his  mount's  in  himself  has  failed  of  enjoy- 
ing the  best  half  of  the  game.  The  right  sort  of  man, 
even  if  he  may  hardly  be  feeling  well  enough  for  a  day's 
hunting,  will  go  out  rather  than  deprive  his  horse  of  the 
pleasure  —  a  bit  of  self-sacrifice  which  sometimes  happens 
in  England,  unusual  as  it  may  be  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic.  The  love  of  animals,  especially  of  horses,  is  born 
and  bred  in  the  English  people.  Unlike  some  Americans, 
they  one  and  all  care  enough  for  a  horse  that  has  given 
them  a  most  glorious  day's  sport  to  stay  at  the  stable  and 
see  him  done  up  properly  and  fed  before  they  dine  them- 
selves. In  England  the  children  are  brought  up  from 
infancy  to  consider  the  feelings  of  all  domestic  animals. 
An  old  favourite  mare  soon  to  have  a  foal  is  talked  over 
again  and  again,  and  the  expectant  mother  has  the  best  of 
care.  Love  and  respect  increase  as  the  eventful  time  ap- 
proaches. She  is  turned  out  on  the  lawn  in  front  of  the 
house,  where  the  grasses  are  tenderest  and  sweetest,  and  the 
best  of  everything  is  none  too  good  for  her.  The  children 
divide  with  her  their  candy ;  the  baby  is  held  up  and  taught 
to  caress  and  love  her.  The  dear  old  mare's  matronly 
appearance  is  never  a  cause  of  shame,  but  of  pride,  and 
when  at  last  she  has  produced  her  foal,  the  entire  family, 
down  to  nurse  and  the  baby,  must  all  go  down  to  the 
stable  to  see  it.  With  such  instincts,  is  it  any  wonder  that 
Englishmen  and  Englishwomen  love  a  horse?  Is  it  any 
wonder  that  there  exists  between  an  English  rider  and  his 
mount  a  potent  feeling  of  companionship  ?     Is  it  any  cause 


lU 

is 


LI 


o 
o 


i 

vi 


■j-j 


Horse  Companionship  279 

for  question  why  in  England  and  Scotland  there  are  a 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  packs  of  hounds  ?  Need  one  long 
inquire  why  this  sport  has  such  a  powerful  hold  that  it  is 
followed  unceasingly  through  youth,  manhood,  and  old 
age? 

I  recur  to  this  favourite  text  by  way,  in  this  chapter,  of 
advice  to  beginners  and  a  little  confidential  talk  with  the 
novice  reader.  Suppose  he  is  to  ride  to  hounds  to-morrow 
for  the  first  time;  there  will  be  some  things  he  ought  to 
do,  and  more  that  he  ought  not.  Some  of  the  things  I 
have  reminded  him  of  already  in  a  general  way  are  consid- 
ered of  sufficient  importance  to  be  repeated  here.  The 
chapter  by  no  means  comprises  the  whole  list  of  things  he 
ought  or  ought  not  to  do,  but  only  the  mistakes  a  beginner 
is  most  likely  to  fall  into. 

Of  course  he  will  dress  well.  An  affected  disregard  for 
dress  on  such  occasions  is  even  more  vulgar  than  foppish- 
ness. If  he  must  wear  spurs,  let  him  use  them  only  in  case 
of  emergency.  The  better  a  man's  horsemanship,  the  less 
use  he  has  for  spurs.  If  his  experience  is  mine  he  will 
find  his  horse  going  much  better,  jumping  much  more  col- 
lectedly, more  intelligently,  and  with  less  fatigue  if  spurs 
never  touch  him,  especially  at  a  jump.  Also  I  should  say 
to  him,  don't  wear  a  new  pair  of  gloves,  and  don't  carry  a 
new  hunting-crop.  The  former  is  uncomfortable,  and,  with 
the  latter,  makes  one  look  too  specially  "  gotten  up."  His 
dress,  however  neat  or  expensive,  should  have  the  stamp  of 
utility. 

Don't  ask  the  Master,  the  huntsman,  or  the  whippers-in,  at 
the  meet,  what  covert  they  are  going  to  draw.      They  never 


28o     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

like  to  be  questioned  on  this  subject  or  any  other  pertaii>- 
ing  to  the  hunt. 

Don't  ride  through  any  coverts  or  fields  at  all  in  going 
to  the  meet.  A  day's  sport  may  be  spoiled  by  setting  the 
foxes  on  foot  in  the  very  wood  the  Master  intends  to  have 
drawn. 

Don't  call  a  hound  a  dog.  There  could  hardly  be  a  worse 
offence  in  the  opinion  of  the  Master  or  huntsman.  "  What 
a  pretty  lot  of  dogs  !  "  said  a  novice  from  Boston  to  our 
Master,  one  day  at  the  meet.  "They  are"  —  looking 
them  over  critically  —  "  the  best  lot  I  have  ever  seen 
together  ;   ought  to  send  them  to  the  Show." 

"  What  dogs  do  you  refer  to  ?  "  asked  the  Master,  who 
was  at  the  moment  standing  by  his  mount,  with  twenty- 
odd  couple  of  his  best  hounds  about  him,  preparatory  to 
going  to  covert. 

"  Why,  these  dogs  ;   the  ones  you  chase  the  fox  with." 

"  Oh,  you  mean  the  hounds^'  replied  the  M.F.H.,  with 
a  coldness  that  would  have  frozen  ice-cream,  and  with  a 
strong  emphasis  on  the  word  hounds.  "  Hounds  hunt  the 
fox.  The  chasing  is  done  by  the  riders^  Most  masters 
are  very  touchy  on  this  point. 

Neither  speak  of  a  hound  as  being  pretty.  He  is  beauti- 
ful, if  you  like,  but  only  ladies  are  permitted  to  call  him 
pretty  —  and  such  ladies  only  as  can  lay  claim  to  that  dis- 
tinction themselves. 

Don't  ride  near  the  hounds.  Shun  them  when  you  are 
on  horseback  as  you  would  Satan  himself.  If  they  over- 
take you  riding  to  covert,  go  quickly  to  one  side  and  let 
them  pass.     Remember  that  this  is  the  greatest  offence  a 


Horse  Companionship  281 

rider  to  hounds  can  commit.  I  have  heard  such  offenders 
given  the  severest  verbal  drubbings  I  ever  listened  to.  I 
remember  hearing  a  perfect  climax  of  rage  and  fury  in  this 
respect  once  at  a  meet  in  England,  when  one  of  these  jeal- 
ous hard-riding  scoundrels  actually  ran  his  horse  into  a  hound 
at  the  covert-side.  The  Master  jumped  off  his  horse.  He 
could  evidently  deliver  himself  better  standing.  "  Take 
yourself  out  of  the  hunt!"  he  cried.  "You  did  this  same 
thing  once  before.  I  ought  to  throw  you  into  the  river. 
Hounds  running  ?  You  are  a  liar,  sir  !  "  (The  fox  had 
been  viewed  away,  but  hounds  were  not  yet  on  the  line.) 
"  You  fool !  You  don't  know  enough  to  be  out  hunting. 
You  don't  know  enough  to  know  when  hounds  are  run- 
ning. Pay  for  the  hound  ?  You  insulting  puppy,  you 
have  n't  money  enough  to  compensate  for  the  injury  to  that 
poor  hound."  (Two  men  were  carrying  the  howling 
hound  to  a  friend's  carriage.)  "  Get  out  of  my  sight,  you 
miserable  good-for-nothing,  and  all  your  kind.  Go  hire  a 
race-track  and  ride  your  fill.  You  don't  know  the  ABC 
of  hunting,  and  you  never  will.  Leave  my  sight  and  this 
field  instantly,  sir,  or  the  hounds  go  straight  back  to  ken- 
nels. This  is  your  second  offence,  sir,  inside  of  a  fortnight. 
You  can't  hold  your  horse  ?  Then  shoot  him,  sir  !  Such 
brutes  ought  never  to  be  permitted  to  come  hunting. 
Any  one  but  a  fool  would  have  had  sense  enough  to  know 
it.  Go  home  and  shoot  him.  And  then  shoot  yourself 
rather  than  again  be  seen  in  a  hunting-field.  You  are  dis- 
graced for  life.  You  and  all  your  kind  are  the  curse  of 
hunting.  You  kill  sport.  You  know  neither  how  to 
hunt  nor  how  to  ride."  —  It  was  quite   the   worst   talk- 


282     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

ing  to  a  man  ever  got,  but  the  Master  was  perfectly  justi- 
fied. There  were  probably  a  dozen  more  "  threshing 
scoundrels "  who  were  getting  the  lecture  second-hand. 
A  story  is  told  of  an  M.F.H.  who  used  to  ask  his  second 
whipper-in  to  ride  up  close  to  some  rider  who  had  offended 
against  this  "  holy  law,"  whereupon  the  Master  would  give 
the  whipper-in  a  stiff  scolding  for  having  done  what  the 
rider  could  not  then  fail  to  see  he  had  done  himself. 
When  a  man  rides  near  hounds  he  runs  them  "  off  their 
noses."      They  are  looking  behind  to  keep  out  of  his  way. 

The  value  of  hounds  in  the  eyes  of  the  Master  and  hunts- 
man cannot  be  estimated  in  dollars  and  cents.  The  loss  of 
a  hound  in  this  way  is  most  discouraging  to  a  Master  who, 
as  is  often  the  case,  owns  the  hounds  and  feeds  and  cares 
for  them  at  his  own  expense.  The  expenses  of  a  first-class 
hunt  establishment  in  England  amount  to  something  like 
two  thousand  dollars  a  hunt  week.*  Picture,  then,  the 
feelings  of  an  M.F.H.  who  sees  a  thoughtless,  heedless 
rider  spoiling  sport.  Is  it  any  wonder  he  loses  patience 
and  his  temper  as  well  ?  The  one  great  drawback  to  hunt- 
ing, the  one  thing  above  all  others  that  gives  the  Master 
annoyance,  is  the  jealous  riding  man.  Men  who  are  out 
to  cut  down  the  field  are  the  principal  offenders  in  this  re- 
spect. 

Don't  ride  up  to  the  huntsman  or  whippers-in   on  the 
way  to  covert  unless  you  are  asked.      Keep  away. 

Don't  call  the  whipper-in   a  whip.      It  is  as  bad  as  to 
call  Mr.  Soper  Soap. — 

*The  Master  of  the  Grafton  hounds  receives  in  subscriptions  ^^8000,  and  has  to 
add  to  this  sum  out  of  his  own  pocket  ^3000  annually  to  make  up  the  deficit. 


Horse  Companionship  283 

"Hello,  Whip;  where  are  you  bound  for?"  No  answer. 
"I  say.  Whip,  where  are  you  going  next?"  "I  beg 
pardon,  sir;  I  thought  you  were  addressing  your  remarks 
to  your  hunting-crop,"  comes  the  reply  at  last. 

Don't  ask  questions  as  to  what  is  to  be  done  next.  You 
are  out  not  to  chase  a  ball  across  a  field,  but  to  himt. 
It  is  passing  strange  that  some  men  never  see  the  thing  in 
this  light.  It  is  as  rude  to  ask  a  huntsman  what  he  is 
going  to  do  next  as  it  would  be  to  lean  over  the  shoulder 
of  a  professional  chess-player  and  ask  him  what  move  he  is 
going  to  make  next.  The  probabilities  are  the  huntsman 
does  not  know  himself;  if  he  did,  he  would  not  be  hesitat- 
ing. He  may  be  waiting  for  some  hounds  that  are  left  in 
covert,  and  if  he  should  answer  the  question  he  might  be 
asked  next  how  it  happened  the  hounds  were  left.  How 
many  times  has  one  seen  a  huntsman  move  out  of  a  rider's 
way  whom  he  saw  approaching  with  questions  in  his  eye  ! 
"Won't  you  have  a  cigar,  huntsman?"  said  a  novice 
once  in  my  hearing.  The  huntsman  of  course  does  n't  like 
to  be  rude,  but  such  a  thing  can  annoy  him  wonderfully. 
Fancy  a  huntsman  smoking  a  cigar  while  hunting  a  fox ! 

Don't  take  any  man  who  is  out  for  the  ride  for  your 
pilot,  nor  the  huntsman  nor  whippers-in.  The  first  sees 
little  and  cares  less  for  the  hunting,  being  there  only  to 
outride  some  other  hard  rider;  and  the  huntsman  or 
whippers-in  would  be  seriously  annoyed.  Let  the  pack  be 
your  pilot;  keep  the  hounds  in  sight.  If  they  turn  right 
or  left  you  are  in  the  best  possible  position  to  cut  corners, 
fences  permitting.  You  will  see  everything  and  be  in  at 
the  death  with  a  single  horse,  while   the   hard-riding  men 


284     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

have  seen  little  or  nothing  of  the  game  and  have  done  their 
second  horse  to  a  turn. 

Ride  always  to  save  your  horse.  That  is  horsemanship. 
It  is  far  more  to  your  credit  to  come  in  to  the  death  with  a 
comparatively  fresh  horse,  having  ridden  the  line,  than  to 
do  the  first  flight  or  steeplechase  act.  Riding  a  steeple- 
chase between  the  fags  is  one  thing.  Fox-hunting  is  another 
thing  altogether.  If  you  have  no  interest  in  anything  but 
the  galloping  part  of  the  game,  join  a  drag-hunt  or  hire  a 
race-course  and  have  done  with  it.  You  can  hardly  please 
the  Master  or  huntsman  more  than  to  keep  out  of  the 
game  altogether.  You  might  as  well,  in  playing  base-ball, 
take  no  interest  in  the  game  apart  from  racing  the  other 
fellows  round  the  bases  for  the  home  plate.  The  principle 
would  be  precisely  the  same. 

Don't  take  it  upon  yourself  to  advise  a  huntsman,  even  if 
you  feel  sure  he  is  going  wrong.  Let  him  manage  the 
hounds  to  suit  himself.  When  the  game  is  over,  look  him 
up  and  ask  him  why  he  drew  one  covert  up-wind  and  the 
next  one  down,  or  any  other  question  you  like.  You  will 
be  surprised  at  his  wonderful  fund  of  v/oodcraft,  and  will 
find  that  he  is  as  ready  to  talk  to  you  now  as  you  are  to 
listen.  You  will  probably  see  that  had  he  done  what  you 
thought  he  ought  to  have  done,  he  would  have  lost  his 
fox.  He  generally  knows  all  that  you  do  and  a  great  deal 
more.  Never  presume  to  advise  in  the  field;  even  the 
Master  of  Hounds  himself  never  meddles  with  the  game 
after  hounds  throw  off.  "  I  think  the  huntsman  is  wrong 
this  time,"  you  may  say  to  the  Master.  "  I  think  so  myself," 
says  the  Master,  "but  he  is  hunting  the  hounds,  and  we 


Horse  Companionship  285 

must  let  him  and  the  hounds  cipher  it  out  in  their  own 
way." 

Don't  lark  your  horse  over  fences  in  the  presence  of  the 
hunting-field.  It  is  the  work  of  a  horse-dealer,  or  a  very 
swell-headed  rider  who  wishes  to  display  himself. 

Don't  ride  about  on  a  steaming  horse  anywhere  near 
hounds  when  at  a  check.  The  perspiring  horse  will  foil 
the  line  for  rods  about.  Jump  off,  if  only  for  a  minute, 
and  rest  your  horse.  Think  how  it  would  be  with  your- 
self, carrying  even  a  very  light  parcel,  if  you  could  not 
change  it  to  the  other  hand  or  set  it  down  a  moment.  It 
may  seem  strange  to  some  of  my  readers  that  I  should  men- 
tion so  evident  a  fact,  but  city  men  as  a  rule  are  great 
offenders  in  just  these  nice  points  of  horsemanship. 

Don't  allow  your  horse  to  rush  his  fences  if  it  is  within 
your  power  to  control  him.  If  you  cannot  hold  him,  sell 
him,  or  send  him  to  the  plough.  Such  a  horse  has  no 
business  in  the  hunting-field.  It  is  a  sure  sign  of  funk  in 
yourself  or  your  horse,  or  both.  Perhaps  he  is  not  properly 
ridden,  as  I  suggested  before,  and  his  rushing  comes  from 
the  punishment  you  give  him  by  pulling  at  his  mouth  or 
spurring  him  at  every  jump.  In  any  case,  it  is  probably 
the  rider's  fault. 

Don't  follow  some  daredevil  rider  over  barbed-wire 
fences  or  any  other  unreasonable  obstacles.  He  has  done 
it  to  show  off.  Either  his  hunting-flask  put  him  up  to  it, 
or  he  is  one  of  those  empty-headed  fellows  who  court 
admiration.  It  is  as  vulgar  as  it  is  unhorsemanlike.  You 
had  better  be  called  a  coward  by  all  such  fellows  than  an 
"empty-headed  ass"  by  the  Master.     I  have  said  so  much 


2  86     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

about  giving  your  horse  his  head  at  his  jumps  that  I  need 
only  remind  you  here  that  it  is  the  highest  accomplishment 
in  the  art  of  cross-country  riding  to  have  so  perfect  a  seat 
that  you  can  give  your  horse  freedom  of  his  head  at  his 
jumps.  Don't  be  discouraged.  Keep  at  it,  and  ever  at  it, 
until  you  succeed.  No  man  can  ever  hope  to  become  thor- 
oughly proficient  in  cross-country  riding  until  he  can  ride  a 
horse  over  jumps  entirely  independent  of  the  bridle-reins. 
If  you  forget  everything  else  this  book  contains,  remember 
this. 

Don't  forget  to  bring  your  best  manners  with  you  into 
the  hunting-field.  No  matter  vi^hat  your  station  in  life 
may  be,  when  you  are  playing  the  game  put  yourself  on  a 
level  with  the  humblest  member.  Among  sportsmen  play 
a  sportsman's  game.  Snobbishness  in  the  hunting-field  is 
disgusting. 

Don't  neglect  to  say  a  kind  word  to  the  farmers.  Take 
off  your  hat  to  any  man  in  the  game  who  shows  a  better 
seat,  better  hands,  or  better  horsemanship  than  your  own. 
You  need  not  be  surprised  to  find  such  a  man  riding  in  a 
rusty  coat,  a  sportsman  indeed,  and  your  superior  at  the 
game.  If  you  are  a  true  sportsman  too,  you  will  be  the 
first  to  acknowledge  his  superiority.  Let  not  the  novice 
follow  the  snob's  too  common  example  in  the  hunting- 
field.  After  once  visiting  a  neighbouring  hunt  club  he 
should  desire  to  be  thoroughly  welcomed  by  every  member 
when  he  comes  again. 

Don't  be  seen  pulling  at  your  flask  :  it  causes  uncompli- 
mentary remarks,  especially  if  you  get  a  fall  afterward. 

Don't  offer  it  to  a  brother  sportsman  ;  it  may  mean  a 


Horse  Companionship  287 

drop  too  much.  Jumping-powder  makes  the  reckless  fool- 
hardy. The  worst  accident  I  ever  saw  in  the  hunting- 
field  was  the  result  of  one  flask  rider  daring  a  rider  with  an 
empty  tiask  to  jump  a  picket  fence  on  the  road  home  after 
a  severe  run  to  hounds.  '•  Good  !  I  '11  go  you  for  a  fiver. 
Go  ahead."  Over  went  the  leader,  his  mount  rapping  the 
fence  heavily  with  every  leg.  After  him  went  Empty-flask, 
against  every  one's  remonstrance,  setting  both  rowels  into 
his  horse's  sides  as  he  reached  the  fence.  We  held  our 
breath  till  he  should  be  over.  But  no !  Empty-flask's 
stimulus  had  done  its  work,  and  its  eifects  were  on  the 
wane.  With  a  sluggish  swerve  of  the  body  forward  and  a 
violent  pull  at  the  bridle-reins  to  regain  his  position,  the 
wicked  spurs  fairly  doubled  and  shut  his  horse  up  instead  of 
extending  him.  Smash  !  went  the  fence,  the  horse  taking 
it  breast-high.  Smash  !  went  Empty-flask  headlong  to  the 
ground  in  a  soggy,  senseless  heap,  and  there  lay  till  his 
mount  turned  a  complete  somersault  upon  him,  and  began 
threshing  wildly  with  his  legs,  the  unconscious  rider's  spurs 
digging  into  him  at  every  move. 

"  The  spurs  did  it,"  said  one. 

"  His  horse  was  done,"  said  another.  "  Reaction  against 
too  much  stimulants,"  was  what  they  thought. 

"  I  '11  never  off'er  a  flask  to  a  man  in  the  hunting-field 
again  as  long  as  I  live,"  said  the  fallen  rider's  friend. 

"  You  don't  mean  to  say  he  was  drunk  ? " 

"  No ;  only  the  stimulant  had  shot  its  bolt.  It  was  a 
broken  leg  for  a  drop  too  much." — 

Don't  scold  a  groom  in  the  presence  of  a  third  person. 

Don't  lose  your  temper  with  any  horse,  no  matter  what 


288     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

he  does.  If  he  gets  out  of  patience,  it  is  nine  to  one  the 
fault  is  with  yourself.  If  he  does  n't  know  how,  send 
him  to  school.  If  he  can't  or  won't  learn,  send  him  to  the 
plough. 

Don't  take  the  least  advantage  of  your  mount.  There 
must  never  be  any  question  of  your  right  to  govern,  but  the 
man  that  governs  least  is  best  obeyed. 

Don't  ask  a  horse  to  do  fractions  until  he  can  add  and 
subtract. 

Don't  mount  any  horse,  for  any  purpose,  until  you  have 
examined  the  set  of  his  bridle  and  bits.  Grooms  are  care- 
less about  not  altering  bridles  to  fit  different  horses.  See 
that  the  snaffle  is  just  low  enough  not  to  wrinkle  the  lips, 
and  that  the  curb  hangs  easily  and  naturally  below  it. 
Look  to  the  curb-chain  and  keep  it  well  let  out.  Nine 
grooms  out  of  ten  get  it  too  short.  Look  to  the  throat- 
latch  ;  let  it  out  so  that  there  is  no  question  of  its  not  being 
perfectly  loose  ;  and  treat  the  nose-band  in  the  same  way. 
These  are  little  things,  but  they  annoy  a  sensitive  high-bred 
horse  and  make  him  irritable  and  cross  with  you.  It  is 
too  bad  to  spoil  a  good  day's  sport  for  a  good  man  and  a 
good  horse  simply  because  the  bridle  does  n't  fit.  With  a 
cold-blooded  draught-horse  it  may  make  little  difference, 
but  a  high-bred  horse,  especially  if  he  is  a  little  over-fit,  is 
as  sensitive  as  a  baby  to  pain  or  discomfort.  You  would 
not  be  comfortable  yourself  with  a  collar-button  rasping 
your  neck. 

Don't  have  your  girths  too  tight  at  first.  This  is  another 
point  where  grooms  are  commonly  at  fault.  A  tight  girth 
irritates  some  horses,  and  you  upset  their  tempers  and  get 


Horse  Companionship  289 

into  a  fight  with  them  before  you  are  fairly  started.  If 
the  horse  is  light-waisted,  ride  him  with  a  hunting  breast- 
strap.  When  you  reach  the  covert-side,  take  your  girths 
up  a  hole,  if  necessary,  while  sitting  in  the  saddle.*  If  your 
mount  has  the  proper  conformation  you  need  have  little 
fear  of  a  saddle  turning. 

Don't  choke  yourself  with  a  stock,  a  tight-fitting  coat  or 
boots.  These  things  make  the  w^«  cross,  and  the  horse 
generally  has  to  suffer  for  it. 

Don't  neglect  to  give  your  stirrup-leathers  a  good  twist- 
ing before  you  mount,  so  that  the  stirrup,  when  in  position, 
instead  of  hanging  flat  against  the  horse's  side,  hangs  at  right 
angles  to  it,  with  a  straight  opening  for  your  foot.  It 
looks  better,  feels  and  is  better.      (See  page  109.) 

Don't  ride  in  a  knee-padded  saddle,  or  one  with  a  flask-  or 
sandwich-case  fastened  to  it.  They  are  more  or  less  in  the 
way,  and  the  pad  and  flask  prevent  an  easy  return  to  your 
seat  if  you  are  thrown  on  to  your  horse's  neck.  The  flap- 
ping sandwich-case  also  cannot  but  be  a  source  of  annoy- 
ance to  the  horse. 

Don't  buy  a  thick  padded  saddle  that  sits  high  up  on  your 
horse.  Get  one  as  thin  as  possible,  and  stuffed  with  real  hair. 
The  nearer  you  can  get  your  seat  to  the  horse,  the  better. 
You  will  be  surprised,  it  you  have  always  ridden  on  a  thick 
saddle,  to  note  how  much  easier  you  ride  on  a  thin  one,  espe- 
cially if  you  ride  by  balance.  There  should  be  little  or  no 
padding  whatever  under  the  flaps  of  the  saddle;  a  thick  piece 
of  pigskin  under  the  girth-buckles  is  quite  sufficient.  Half 
or  three  quarters  of  an  inch  makes  a  wonderful  difference. 

*  See  illustration,  page  109. 


290     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

We  have  left  one  of  the  most  important  "don'ts  "  to  the 
last:  Don't  ride  a  horse  a  rod  with  a  perfectly  slack  rein, 
no  matter  if  you  are  tired  and  the  horse  is  too.  This  is  a 
very  common  error.  Instead  keep  always  a  light  touch  on 
his  mouth.  In  this  way,  after  you  have  ridden  even  a 
tough-mouthed  horse  at  a  walk  as  well  as  at  a  trot,  you  will 
be  surprised  to  note  that  he  will  soon  begin  to  answer  to  a 
very  light  pull,  and  finally  that  an  almost  imperceptible 
touch  of  the  reins  will  guide  him.  Horses  get  the  notion, 
if  you  ride  them  with  a  slack  rein  at  a  walk  or  slow  trot 
and  take  them  by  the  head  when  going  fast,  that  the  slack 
rein  means  to  go  slow  and  the  pull  back  to  go  ahead  — 
just  the  contrary  of  what  you  really  intend.  This  style  of 
riding  is  of  course,  therefore,  the  best  way  to  turn  horses 
into  pullers,  and  is  one  of  the  worst  habits  a  rider  can 
get  into.  For  the  same  reason  don't  let  your  hands 
drop  stationary  in  your  lap.  Give  your  wrists  perfect  free- 
dom to  enable  you  to  keep  a  uniform  touch,  which,  of  all 
things,  a  horse  seems  to  prefer  you  to  do.  If  you  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  riding  with  your  hands  rigid  you  will 
be  surprised  to  notice  what  a  give  and  take  your  hands 
must  make  to  follow  the  natural  oscillation  of  a  horse's 
head.  Nothing  you  can  do  will  improve  your  own  hands 
more  than  to  ride  horses  when  at  walk,  and  at  all  times,  for 
that  matter,  in  this  style.  Practise  on  the  way  to  the  meet 
and  covert,  especially  when  walking  a  horse ;  try  with  the 
least  amount  of  effort  possible  to  make  him  cross  to  the 
other  side  of  the  road  and  back,  or  move  from  the  road  to 
a  side-path.      You  will  find  in  time  you  have  made  a  most 


Horse  Companionship  291 

wonderful  change  both  in   the  horse's  mouth  and  in  your 
hands. 

Any  one  of  these  "  doii'ts,"  taken  separately,  sounds  insig- 
nificant ;  but  the  neglect  of  them  in  the  aggregate  ruins  a 
horse.  Attention  to  these  little  things  makes  the  finished 
rider. 


XXVI 
THE    CONSULTATION    OF    WAR 


"  And  now,  brother  sportsman,  go  home  to  your  rest, 
And  dream  of  the  chase  till  the  morn; 
Ride  on  in  your  sleep  o'er  the  fields  of  the  west. 
The  vale  that  puts  rider  and  horse  to  the  test. 
And  follow  the  hound  and  the  horn." 

POEMS    IN    PINK 


XXVI 
THE    CONSULTATION    OF    WAR 

ARRANGING    FOR    A    DAy's    HUNTING AN    ELABORATE    PREPARATION 

OLD    SIMPSON    AT    WORK 

lUNTING,"  says  the  immortal  Jorocks,  "is 
the  image  of  war  without  its  guilt."  Few 
persons  indeed  realise  the  preparation  and 
strategy  necessary  to  a  day's  hunting  —  the 
neglect  of  which  would  soon  bring  the  hunt  to  the  end  of 
its  popularity.  The  idea  that  a  fox-chase  consists  simply 
in  the  coming  together  of  a  lot  of  riders  who  go  to  a 
covert,  start  a  fox,  and  race  him  to  death,  is  one  that  any 
real  acquaintance  with  the  sport  speedily  dispels.  I  have 
attempted,  perhaps  with  some  success,  to  show  what  is 
involved  in  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  a  well- 
organised  hunt.  I  come  now  to  the  preparation  for  a  day's 
sport,  in  wJiich  the  general  and  his  aide  lay  plans  and  plots 
for  the  ensuing  engagements. 

It  is  the  evening  before  the  day  of  a  meet.  Weeks  earlier 
it  has  been  determined  where  the  meets  shall  be  for  the  month, 
and  printed  notices  to  that  effect  have  been  sent  to  all  the 
members  and  farmers  and  patrons  in  the  county.  The  Hall, 
where    the  Master  resides,  is  of  course   filled  with   guests, 

295 


296     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

themselves  full  of  merriment  and  expectation.  After  din- 
ner the  Master  excuses  himself,  and  is  soon  closeted  with 
the  huntsman,  who  has  come  in  to  discuss  plans  for  the 
morrow.  The  county  map  is  taken  down,  and  also  a  map 
which  the  Master  has  had  specially  made,  on  which  is 
marked  every  farm,  lane,  woodland,  ravine,  or  brook  in  the 
neighbourhood.  With  these  spread  before  them,  and  the 
Master's  note-book  at  hand  for  reference,  the  two  proceed 
to  work.  The  note-book  is  a  complete  chronicle  of  past 
events,  giving  a  history  of  every  run,  and  a  record  of  the 
participants  in  it,  and  of  every  covert  drawn  for  years  past 
—  a  regular  log-book,  in  fact,  and  most  indispensable  it  is, 
too.      The  Master  opens  the  consultation. 

"  Well,  Huntsman,"  he  says,  "  what  do  you  think  of 
drawing  the  Maple  Ravine  ?  Or  shall  we  try  the  Peters 
gully  ?     We  had  a  capital  run  from  there  last  year." 

"  Please  yourself,"  replies  the  huntsman,  who  has  reasons 
of  his  own  for  not  drawing  either  place,  but  is  politic 
enough  not  to  advance  his  own  preferences.  He  will  let 
the  Master  draw  these  out  of  him  to  suit  himself 

"  On  some  accounts,"  says  the  Master,  "  I  prefer  the 
Springer  woods  to  either.  You  see,  we  shall  have  some 
followers  out  with  us  to-morrow  from  the  Blanck  Hunt, and 
they  're  said  to  be  devils  to  ride.  I  should  like  to  give 
them  a  ride  across  some  of  our  great  grass  meadows.  We 
might  draw  the  woods  behind  Parker's.  Or  what  about 
Johnston's  ravine,  with  a  chance  of  a  run  over  Burden  Flats?" 

"  The  flats  have  been  planted  with  beans  this  year," 
says  the  huntsman,  "  and  the  recent  rains  will  make  the 
going  awfully  slow." 


The  Consultation  of  War  297 

"  It  would  serve  some  of  those  jealous  riders  right  if  they 
had  to  go  slow  for  once,"  comments  the  Master  ;  "  only 
they  would  kill  their  poor  horses." 

"  How  about  the  ridge  road  at  Fur  Forks  ? "  asks  the 
huntsman,  now  coming  forward  with  his  own  plans.  "  Old 
Simpson  "  —  our  old  friend  the  earth-stopper  —  "  says  there 
are  two  litters  of  foxes  up  there,  and  the  farmers  are 
anxious  for  you  to  give  them  a  dusting." 

"  That  's  a  fact,"  agrees  the  Master.  "  We  ought  to  go 
there.  Mrs.  Jenks  wrote  me  yesterday  that  she  had  lost 
some  of  her  chickens.  They  were  struck  by  lightning, 
most  likely.  Foxes  don't  kill  chickens,  you  know ;  at 
least,  not  in  their  own  neighbourhood." 

"  The  going  will  be  good  up  there  on  the  high  ground," 
suggests  the  huntsman,  who  probably  has  seen  the  farmer 
and  knows  that  the  litter  has  been  carefully  preserved  for 
the  hunting  season. 

"  That  's  a  fact,"  says  the  Master.  "  The  trouble  is,  Mrs. 
Whirler  is  coming  out  to-morrow  with  a  four-in-hand  and 
a  party  of  friends.  She  and  a  dozen  more  have  written  to 
say  they  are  bringing  friends,  and  hope  they  will  be  able  to 
see  some  of  the  run  from  the  highway.  The  ridge  is  alto- 
gether too  rough  for  four-in-hands,  or  for  any  other  kind 
of  driving,  for  that  matter." 

So  every  covert  for  three  miles  about  the  place  of  meet- 
ing is  gone  over,  pros  and  cons  carefully  compared.  Finally 
it  is  decided  to  draw  the  Benson  Wood,  and,  failing  that, 
the  Peler  ravine.  By  this  time,  thinks  the  Master,  the 
coaches  will  have  turned  back,  and,  if  there  is  still  time, 
the  hounds  may  be  taken  to  the  ridge  road. 


298     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

After  this  much  of  the  programme  has  been  decided 
upon,  the  best  ways  of  drawing  each  covert  are  discussed. 
The  Master  next  goes  over  his  list  of  hounds,  making 
selections  with  a  view  to  uniformity  of  size  especially,  for 
he  wishes  to  display  his  beauties  to  the  best  possible  advan- 
tage before  the  visitors  next  day.  Then  they  decide  which 
horse  the  Master  shall  ride,  and  which  for  his  second  mount. 
The  huntsman  also  makes  his  selection,  and  decides  upon 
the  mounts  for  the  whippers-in.  There  are,  further,  three 
or  four  mounts  to  be  provided  for  guests  —  ladies,  perhaps,  as 
well  as  men.  These  selections  must  be  carefully  based  on 
what  the  Master  knows  of  the  riding  of  each  guest.  All 
this  takes  time,  the  list  being  changed  and  changed  again. 
In  addition,  two  or  three  carriages  are  to  be  provided  for 
ladies  and  guests  who  do  not  ride,  together  with  the  inci- 
dental question  of  who  is  to  drive  them. 

Already  the  consultation  has  consumed  an  hour  or  possi- 
bly two,  and  the  business  is  only  begun.  The  huntsman 
has  yet  to  go  to  the  kennels,  and  wake  up  old  Simpson  the 
earth-stopper,  and  explain  the  programme  to  him  ;  and  to 
see  the  kennel  huntsman  and  give  him  the  list  of  hounds 
that  are  to  go  out  to-morrow.  This  must  be  known  the 
night  before,  so  that  their  next  morning's  feeding  may  be 
regulated  accordingly,  either  very  light  or  none  at  all,  de- 
pending on  the  time  of  the  meet  and  the  distance  from  the 
meet  to  the  covert.  From  the  kennels  the  huntsman  must 
turn  to  the  stables,  and  go  carefully  over  the  programme  of 
horses  with  the  head  coachman.  The  whole  train  must 
be  carefully  laid. 

By  the  time  the  Master  and  his  guests  are  saying  their 


The  Consultation  of  War  299 

good  nights,  old  Simpson  the  earth-stopper,  last  but  not 
least,  is  saddling  his  pony,  and  before  they  are  asleep  is 
grumbling  to  himself  along  the  highway,  his  lantern  on  his 
arm  and  shovel  strapped  to  his  back,  while  his  faithful  lit- 
tle terrier  Skip  trots  along  behind  him  for,company.  "  Why 
do  they  want  to  draw  the  Benson  Wood  and  then  go  'way 
off  to  the  ridge  road?"  he  grumbles.  "Just  to  make  me 
as  much  work  as  they  possibly  can,  I  suppose.  And  after 
it  is  all  done  they  may  never  go  nigh  the  ridge.  Fox- 
hunting ain't  what  it  used  to  be  when  I  was  a  boy." 

So  he  goes  along,   scolding  to  himself.      Sometimes  he 
tells  his  troubles  to  the  pony  and  Skip,  who,  though  they 
may   both  sympathise  with  him,  are  powerless  to  change 
the  general's  commands.      "  I   have  a  mind   not    to   go    a   " 
step,"  he  says  to  the  pony. 

Yet  if  you  should  meet  him  two  hours  later,  going  along 
some  dreary  bye-road  in  the  dark  windy  night,  and  say, 
"  Hello,  Simpson  ;  is  n't  this  rather  rough  on  a  man  of  your 
age?"   he  would  not  agree  at  all. 

"  Oh,  nonsense  !  "  he  would  retort.  "  I  could  give  any  of 
the  boys  a  hard  day  yet  if  they  tried  to  follow  me";  and  then 
he  begins  to  tell  some  appallingly  long  story  about  his 
prowess  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg.  Or  if  you  should  say, 
meeting  him  some  cold,  rainy  night  crossing  your  farm  on 
his  white  pony  like  a  ghost,  "Well,  uncle,  have  n't  they 
some  younger  man  to  do  this  work  ?" 

"  Not  a  man  on  the  place  knows  enough  to  do  my 
work,"  would  be  the  quick  reply. 

To  hear  him  grumble  and  growl  before  he  gets  under 
way,  you  might  suppose  him  the  most  abused  man  on  the 


300     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

place ;  but  if  you  should  utter  one  protesting  word  against 
the  Master  you  would  think  the  old  man  again  in  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg,  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  so  hot 
would  be  his  defence.  Good  old  Simpson  !  When  he  dies 
every  true  sportsman  will  mourn  his  loss. 


XXVII 
THE    MEET 


"What  a  fine  hunting  day!  as  balmy  as  May, 
And  the  hounds  to  the  village  will  come. 
Every  friend  will  be  there,  and  all  trouble  and  care 
Will  be  left  behind  them  at  home. 

"See  the  servants  and  steeds  on  the  way. 

And  sportsmen  their  scarlet  display. 
Let  us  join  the  glad  throng  that  goes  marching  along, 

And  we  all  will  go  hunting  to-day." 

HUNTING    SONG 


XXVII 
THE    MEET 

THE    M.F.H.  AS    HOST IN    DISCHARGE    OF    HIS    SOCIAL    DUTIES 

INTRODUCING    A    FEW    FRIENDS 

HE  meet  to-day  is  at,  say, the  Master's  house; 

time,  half-past   ten  ;   the  hour   for  going    to 

covert,  eleven. 

During  the  preliminary  minutes  the  guests 
saunter  about  the  grounds  or  visit  the  stables  to  look  to  the 
condition  of  their  mounts.  The  great  dining-hall  is  open 
to  all  who  come,  its  hospitable  board  laden  with  choice 
joints  of  cold  meats,  salads,  and  fruits,  and  decorated  with 
rare  plants  and  flowers.  The  sideboard  is  a  forest  of  bottles; 
beer,  wine,  champagne,  sodas,  or  milk,  are  there  for  one's 
choice. 

Before  long  the  members  begin  to  arrive,  leaving  their 
horses  in  the  first  empty  stall  or  box  they  come  to,  from 
which  the  Master  has  had  his  own  horses  removed  to  make 
room  for  them.  You  may  see  their  riders  presently  going  in 
couples  across  the  beautiful  lawn  toward  the  house  to  pay 
their  respects  to  the  Master,  and  have,  as  the  Scotch  say, 
"  a  wee  nip"  before  going  to  covert.  Soon  a  steady  pro- 
cession of  carriages  and  pedestrians  is  moving  up  the  drives 

303 


304    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

and  walks.  Lest  any  of  the  country  members  perhaps  hesi- 
tate to  enter  the  house,  either  the  Master  himself,  or  a  friend 
or  guest  assigned  to  the  duty,  goes  about  among  them,  mak- 
ing hospitably  sure  that  no  shy  stranger  goes  away  unbidden. 
Mrs.  Whirler  drives  up  with  her  coach  and  four,  loaded  to 

its  utmost  capacity  with  visiting  friends.      Mr.  H comes 

surging  around  the  curve  of  the  drive  with  a  six-in-hand 
to  his  old  mail-coach,  at  the  same  time  that  a  sporty  young 
man  lands  a  smart  tandem  across  the  green.  It  is  all  a 
most  engaging  medley — four-in-hands  and  farm-waggons, 
tandems  and  butchers'  carts,  spider  phaetons  and  buck- 
boards,  friends,  neighbours,  tenant-farmers,  visitors,  villagers, 
and  a  dozen  families  or  more,  with  their  guests,  who  have 
moved  into  the  valley  for  the  hunting  season. 

Having  welcomed  the  guests  who  have  come  to  the 
house,  the  Master,  some  little  time  before  eleven,  hurries  out 
for  a  word  with  any  who  are  unable  or  disinclined  to 
leave  their  mounts  or  carriages.  The  first  one  to  greet  him 
is  Daisy  Mulford,  mounted  on  her  half-bred  pony.  Miss 
Daisy  lives  some  seven  miles  away. 

"  Oh,  Miss  Daisy,"  says  the  Master,  affably,  "  pleased 
to  see  you  out  to-day  !  How  are  your  father  and  mother? 
Your  old  pony  looks  keen  as  ever." 

Daisy,  who  has  been  going  over  and  over  again  in  her 
mind  just  how  she  shall  say  something  she  has  meant  to 
say,  summons  up  her  courage,  as  the  Master  is  about  to 
pass  on,  and  ventures  a  query, 

"  When  are  you  going  to  have  a  meet  at  our  farm  } "  she 
asks. 

"  Well,  I  hardly  know.  Are  there  any  foxes  down 
there  ?     We  have  had  some  capital  runs  from  your  place." 


> 

Q 

c 
o 


The  Meet  305 

"  Yes,"  answers  Daisy;  "  Mamma  says  she  thinks  there 
are,  because  our  hens  have  been  going  lately."  Then,  for 
fear  the  Master  may  think  perhaps  she  is  hinting  for  com- 
pensation, she  hastens  to  add  :  "  We  're  not  sure  that  any 
fox  has  taken  them.  Papa  says  it  's  probably  a  skunk,  or 
perhaps  the  Italians  working  in  the  gravel-pit  near  our 
farm." 

"  Give  my  compliments  to  your  father  and  mother.  Miss 
Daisy,"  says  the  Master.  "  I  will  send  the  huntsman  over 
there  to  look  into  the  matter.  Meantime  you  might  ride 
your  pony  about  the  coverts  and  see  if  you  can  locate  an 
open  earth.  If  you  can't  we  shall  have  to  turn  the  pack 
on  the  Italians.  You  shall  be  my  whipper-in  or  the  hunts- 
man, whichever  you  prefer!"  —  with  which  the  Master 
lifts  his  hat  and  passes  on.  Mrs.  W with  her  four-in- 
hand  enjoys  not  even  a  taste  of  the  pleasure  that  fills  Miss 
Daisy's  heart  this  day. 

"  Good  morning,  William,"  says  the  Master,  next,  to  a 
farmer's  son  on  a  long-tailed  four-year-old  colt.  "  What  's 
that  you  are  riding  to-day,  my  lad  ?  " 

"  Oh,  that 's  the  colt." 

The  Master  does  not  seem  to  understand. 

"  The  colt  out  of  old  Jane,"  adds  the  boy. 

"  You  don't  say  so  !  "  The  Master  looks  him  hastily 
over.  "  Surely  he  is  the  right  stamp.  What  was  his 
sire  f 

"  Why,  your  thoroughbred  stallion  Devil-to-Pay." 

"  Is  that  a  fact }  Well,  he  can't  help  being  the  right 
sort,  can  he  ?  And  he  is  in  good  hands,  no  mistake.  You 
always  give  him  his  head  at  his  jumps,  don't  you,  and  bring 
him  to  his  fences  well  in  hand,  with  his  hocks  well  under 


3o6     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

him  ?  Right,  my  boy."  Then  he  leans  forward  and 
whispers,  "  Don't  you  think  your  curb-chain  is  rather 
tight?"  And  then  aloud,  "What  's  the  name  of  your 
colt  ?  " 

"  Devil-to-Pay  Second,"  comes  the  quick  reply. 
The  Master  turns  away  laughing.  "  Smart  lad,  that," 
he  thinks.  "  He  has  the  making  of  a  sportsman."  And 
the  boy,  on  his  part,  has  received  a  valuable  lesson  in  horse- 
manship. Delivered  in  a  tactful  and  sportsmanlike  manner, 
it  sinks  deep  into  his  mind. 

Up  comes  Miss  Frances  in  a  two-wheeled  pony-trap,  a 
sweet  girl  of  sixteen  from  Rochester.  "  Oh,  Miss  Fran- 
ces !  Delighted!  How  smart  you  look  in  that  new 
hunting-frock  !  Dear  me,  you  will  be  breaking  the  hearts 
of  all  my  young  men.  How  can  they  chase  foxes  when 
you  are  in  sight .?  " 

"Oh,  but  you  're  a  taffy-giver!"  laughs  Miss  Frances. 
"That     hard-riding     boy   Arthur,   they    tell    me,"  con- 
tinues the  Master,  imperturbably,  "  has  already  cut  the  other 
fellows  out." 

"Now  don't  you  make  any  mistake,  Mr.  Master"  — 
with  a  great  show  of  indignation.  "  He  is  too  shy  a  rider 
to  catch  anything — I  mean  —  " 

"  What,  ho,  there!  "  laughs  the  Master.  "  Has  his  fox 
slipped  covert  or  have  you  come  to  a  check  ?  My  word 
for  it,  Arthur  is  a  fine  chap.  Give  the  boy  a  chance  to 
view  you  away.  The  trouble  is,  the  other  fellows  have 
foiled  your  line." 

"  I  should  like  to  beat  you  !  "  cries  Miss  Frances,  red- 
dening and  shaking  her  pretty  fist  with  a  great  exhibition 


The  Meet  307 

of  earnestness.      What  she  really  means,  as  one  may  see  by 
the  look  of  her  eyes,  is  something  quite  different. 

Follow  the  Master,  and  you  will  see  him  next  taking  off 
his  cap  to  an  old  dame  and  her  two  daughters  on  the  back 
seat  of  Farmer  Sykes's  democrat.  Farmer  Sykes  is  on  the 
front  seat  with  a  couple  of  sturdy  boys,  also  of  the  Sykes 
persuasion. 

"  Good  morning,  Mrs.  Sykes.  And  how  are  you,  James? 
Any  foxes  up  your  way  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,"  says  Farmer  Sykes.  "A  vixen  has  laid  up 
her  cubs  in  that  old  earth  in  the  spring  lot  by  the  thorn- 
apple  tree.  They  must  be  very  fit,  too,  I  'm  a-thinking, 
for  my  misses  declares  the  mother  has  been  feeding  on  her 
prize  Plymouth  Rock  pullets  all  summer.  If  you  don't 
come  up  and  bustle  them  about  a  bit  pretty  soon,  they  '11  be 
so  fat  they  can't  run." 

"I  '11  be  up  there,"  says  the  Master, — and  he  makes  a 
memorandum  in  his  note-book, — "  and  give  them  such  a 
dusting  as  a  fox  never  had  before  in  his  life.  I  suppose 
you  've  no  objection  to  our  hunting  over  your  farm,  Mr. 
Sykes  ? " 

"  Not  a  bit.  Come  as  often  as  you  like.  Kill  your  fox 
in  the  parlour  if  you  want  to.  A  little  blood  would  do 
the  old  carpet  good.  My  misses  was  saying  only  the  other 
day  it  was  getting  awfully  faded." 

"All  right,  James ;  but,"  with  a  sly  look  at  the  two  Miss 
Sykeses  on  the  back  seat,  *T  think  I  had  better  send  some 
of  these  two-legged  hounds  to  do  the  hunting  in  the  par- 
lour." And  the  troubles  of  the  Sykes  family  —  bad  crops, 
an  overdue  bank-note,   the  drought,   and  the  grasshoppers 


3o8     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

—  are  forgotten  for  the  rest  of  the  day,  thanks  to  a 
pleasant  word. 

"Who  wouldn't  take  a  puppy,"  says  Mrs.  S.,  "for  such 
a  nice  gentleman  ?  " 

"  Who  would  n't  protect  an  earth  with  a  litter  of  foxes 
for  such  a  man?"  says  her  worthy  spouse. 

A  young  man  from  Boston,  the  hard-riding  lad  Arthur, 
of  whom  the  Master  spoke,  catches  his  eye. 

"  Hello,  Arthur ;  what  's  the  matter  ?  You  look  sober. 
Did  the  boys  do  you  at  cards  last  night  ?  Why  the  deuce 
are  you  not  looking  after  Miss  Frances,  you  rascal!  Last 
week,  if  I  wanted  to  find  you,  I  simply  had  to  look  for  her." 

"Oh,  pshaw!  It  's  all  up  with  me,"  Arthur  answers, 
hardly. 

"The  deuce  it  is!  I  know  a  thing  or  two.  By  the  way, 
I  'm  asking  her  mother  to  bring  Frances  over  to  dinner  on 
Wednesday.      You  are  going  to  be  my  guest  that  day." 

"But  I  —  " 

"  Not  a  word,  sir.  I  '11  entertain  mamma,  and  you 
shall  have  everything  your  own  way,  old  boy  !  There  I 
Ride  to  your  own  line,  and  don't  forget  your  failings. 
Hold  hard  !  Hold  hard !  And  may  the  Lord  have  mercy 
on  your  soul !  " 

The  Master  notes  that  the  hour  of  eleven  is  at  hand,  and 
prepares  to  mount  his  faithful  old  hunter,  the  Sheik.  Just 
then,  however,  he  spies,  standing  aloof  from  the  others  and 
half  hidden  by  the  great  clump  of  evergreens,  looking  quite 
sad  and  unhappy,  a  villager  who  tor  a  good  many  years 
has  ridden  to  hounds  as  often  as  he  can  leave  his  business 
in  town.     Gossip  says  Villager's  wife  has  been  flirting  with 


The  Meet  309 

a  married  man  from  a  neighbouring  town  for  several  years, 
and  he  has  had  more  than  one  good  word  of  advice  and 
comfort  from  the  Master.  Mrs.  V.  has  lately  taken  her 
departure  from  home,  and  suspicion  is  great.  Only  the 
Master  of  all  those  present  knows  Villager's  secret.  The 
two  men  shake  hands. 

"Any  news.  Villager?" 

"  No,"  comes  the  sad  reply. 

"  I  am  sorry  for  you  !  "  says  the  Master,  still  holding  him 
by  the  hand.  With  another  warm  pressure  of  the  hand,  he 
hurries  on. 

Villager  bites  hard  against  his  lip.  His  face  hardens, 
and  he  reins  his  horse  farther  back  into  the  evergreens, 
brushing  away  a  tear  with  the  back  of  his  hand. 

But  by  now  it  is  almost  eleven,  and  every  one  not  yet 
mounted  prepares  to  mount.  Toot-toot !  goes  the  horn,  and 
soon  a  long  cavalcade  is  getting  into  shape  to  jog  along  to 
covert. 


XXVIII 
RIDING    TO    COVERT 


"  See,  the  pack  are  game  and  sprightly. 
Oh,  they  tread  the  road  so  lightly! 
O'er  each  wilful  face  uplifted 
Thoughts  of  sport  have  sweetly  drifted. 
And  I  hear  the  rustling  music  of  their  feet  upon  the  way." 

RHYMES    IN    RED 


XXVIII 
RIDING    TO    COVERT 

MOUNTING     FOR      THE      START A      RIDER      IN     A     FIGHT     WITH     HIS 

HORSE MRS.   SO-AND-SO    AND    OUR    HUNTSMAN POSITION 

[T  lacks  but  five  minutes  of  the  hour.  The 
cracking  of  the  whipper-in's  thong  an- 
nounces the  approach  of  the  hounds  from 
the  kennels. 

"Here  they  come  !  Here  they  come  !  "  cries  every  one 
to  his  neighbour,  and  the  whole  company  turn  like  the 
minor  actors  in  a  play  to  see  the  star  of  the  performance 
making  his  entrance  upon  the  stage.  "  Here  they  come!  " 
The  huntsman,  with  twenty-odd  couples  of  hounds  trot- 
ting beside  his  horse,  rounds  the  bend  in  the  drive,  and  the 
admiring  crowd  stand  back  to  admit  them  to  the  lawn. 
Bowing  to  right  and  left,  he  greets  everybody  with  a 
face  brimful  of  smiles  and  cheerfulness.  The  whippers-in 
are  looking  very  smart  in  their  velvet  caps,  hunting-coats, 
top-boots,  and  white  breeches.  Their  saddle-  and  bridle- 
irons  are  polished  to  the  last  degree,  and  everything  about 
them  is  scrupulously  neat,  yet  at  the  same  time  most 
businesslike.  Their  horses,  like  themselves,  are  well 
groomed,  and  as  fit  and  well-mannered  as  feeding  and  train- 

313 


314    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

ing  can  make  them.  You  can  tell  with  half  an  eye  they 
are  very  well  bred  and  very  fast.  The  hounds  also,  you 
cannot  but  notice,  in  size,  colour,  and  markings  show  evi- 
dence of  the  carefulness  of  their  selection.  Altogether 
they  are  the  pride  and  admiration  of  all  the  hunt. 

When  the  huntsman  comes  to  a  halt  the  crowd  has 
formed  in  a  wide  circle  about  him.  Hunting  men  and 
hound-fanciers  are  already  discussing  the  points  of  the 
hounds,  and  farmers  and  their  wives  and  children  are 
pointing  out  what  hounds  they  have  had  at  their  own  farms 
at  walk,  recounting  their  deviltries  with  real  delight. 
Occasionally  a  young  hound  recognises  his  country  friends, 
and  trots  over  to  them  at  the  sound  of  their  voices  or  upon 
hearing  them  call  his  name.  They  may  have  come  miles, 
some  of  these  people,  just  to  have  a  word  with  the  puppy 
they  "walked,"  and  to  see  how  he  looks  as  a  hound  in  such 
grand  company. 

"  Of  all  things  !  "  cries  Mrs.  Farmer.  "  Why,  Puppy, 
how  you  have  changed  !  When  he  left  our  place,"  she 
will  explain  to  whoever  is  standing  near,  "  he  was  as  fat  as 
butter,  and  now  look  at  him.  You  can  count  every  rib  in 
his  body.  Dear  me !  he  must  have  been  homesick.  He 
has  more  muscle  and  I  dare  say  he  minds  better,  and  all 
that.  But  fancy  his  going  out  for  a  hard  day's  work  with 
no  breakfast !  " 

Villagers  old  and  young  fill  out  the  circle,  while  first- 
time  visitors  to  the  hunt  look  on  in  open-mouthed 
wonderment. 

Meanwhile  the  hounds  are  walking  about  the  hunts- 
man's horse,  sitting  on  their  haunches,  rolling  on  the  grass. 


Riding  to  Covert  315 

or  lying  at  full  length  on  the  velvety  turf.  Some  of  the 
younger  hounds  already  are  trotting  about  with  noses  down 
and  sterns  waving,  not  having  yet  learned  to  husband  their 
strength. 

"Back,  Songstress;  go  back!"  A  crack  of  the  whip- 
per-in's thong  within  an  inch  of  her  side  sends  one  of  these 
triflers  to  the  ranks  with  stern  down,  very  crestfallen. 

"Do  you  see  that  hound  by  the  huntsman's  stirrup?" 
asks  a  hunting  friend  of  a  stranger  he  has  taken  in  hand. 
"  That  's  Bluebells,  the  Master's  favourite.  Is  n't  she 
great  ?  Her  fling  and  drive  in  covert  are  something  won- 
derful. That  big  upstanding  hound  is  Trumpeter,  the  best- 
nosed  hound  in  the  pack.  When  he  fails  to  follow  a  line 
no  other  hound  need  make  the  attempt.  That  black-and- 
tan  bitch  rolling  on  the  grass  is  Quickstep  —  the  most  musi- 
cal tongue  you  ever  heard.      Her  voice  is  as  clear  as  a  bell.*' 

"What  hound  is  this?"  asks  a  farmer  of  the  huntsman. 

"  That  's  Vagabond,  by  Vampire  out  of  Quickstep." 

"  And  this  one  ?  " 

"That  's  Barmaid,  by  Villager  out  of  Bonnie  Maid." 

"  I  want  to  know  !  "  replies  Mr.  Farmer.  "  Looks  just 
like  her  old  dad,  don't  she?" 

"  Very  much  indeed,"  replies  the  huntsman,  who  might 
have  added  that  she  also  has  inherited  the  vice  of  her 
mother  in  giving  tongue  only  as  long  as  she  can  lead  the 
pack  —  a  very  jealous  hound ;  the  moment  she  drops 
behind  she  has  no  interest  in  the  game. 

So  the  talk  and  admiring  comment  run  about  the  circle, 
while  snap  shots  without  number  are  aimed  at  the  picture. 

It  lacks   two   minutes   of  the    hour.     Toot-toot !   goes 


3i6     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

the  huntsman's  horn,  as  a  signal  to  mount.  The  stable  doors 
are  thrown  open,  and  a  row  of  horses  that  have  been  sad- 
dled and  bridled  and  backed  into  their  stalls  are  liberated 
with  a  rattle  and  led  smartly  out  upon  the  lawn.  All  is 
bustle  and  confusion.  Village  boys  and  grooms,  who  have 
been  leading  riders'  horses  aimlessly  about,  now  bring  them 
forward.  Riders  are  hurrying  hither  and  thither  across 
the  lawn  in  search  of  their  mounts. 

"  What  's  become  of  that  blamed  boy,  I  wonder  ? " 
queries  one  nervous  man ;  but  no  one  is  there  to  answer  him. 
Presently,  however,  the  boy  is  spied,  dragging  his  feet  along 
as  if  they  were  lead,  and  tugging  at  the  bridle  of  a  highly 
bred  horse  that  seems  ashamed  of  being  seen  in  such 
uncouth  company. 

Another  rider,  in  the  excitement  of  the  moment,  fails  to 
recognise  his  own  horse,  which  is  standing  just  at  his  elbow, 
and  he  calls  like  a  cow  that  has  lost  her  first-born  among  a 
herd  of  strange  cattle. 

"  Micawber  !      I  say,  Micawber  !      Where  the  —  " 

"  Here,  sir,"  says  Micawber,  giving  the  rider  a  touch 
on  the  elbow. 

"  Oh,  well,  where  the  deuce  have  you  been  keeping 
yourself  all  day  ?  "  And  without  even  a  glance  at  bridle, 
throat-latch,  or  girth,  he  hurriedly  mounts.  One  might 
have  expected  as  much.  The  excited  and  blustering  way 
in  which  the  gentleman  mounts  is  of  itself  enough  to  put 
the  horse  on  his  mettle.  The  rider  is  trying  vainly  to  put 
on  his  gloves ;  the  horse  is  eager  to  go  on  with  the  moving 
hounds ;  and  a  fight  begins  then  and  there  between  the 
two.      Which  of  the  two  is  at  fault  ?     It  will  be  interest- 


Riding  to  Covert  3  i  7 

ing  to  watch  them,  for,  if  we  mistake  not,  there  is  trouble 
brewing  for  both. 

The  carriages  manoeuvre  to  get  into  line.  Expectancy, 
animation,  joy,  light  every  face,  excepting  only  our 
novice  rider,  who  looks  very  serious  and  a  trifle  bewildered. 
Fortunately,  however,  he  has  mounted  in  time  to  avoid  a 
misunderstanding  with  his  horse,  though  one  must  confess 
he  went  about  it  in  a  mechanical  sort  of  way,  impelled 
rather  by  some  force  outside  of  himself  than  by  any  obvious 
free  will. 

The  Master  is  most  punctual  ;  there  is  no  five  minutes' 
grace  for  late-comers.  "  Give  them  five  and  they  will 
want  ten.      No,  sir  ;   not  a  minute,"  he  declares. 

The  town  clock  strikes  the  last  stroke  of  eleven.  Again 
the  huntsman's  horn  is  blown.  It  is  the  signal  to  move  on 
to  covert. 

Crack !  The  second  whipper-in's  thong  rounds  up  the 
scattering  hounds  to  the  huntsman's  horse.  Slowly  the 
cavalcade,  headed  by  the  huntsman  and  hounds,  moves  for- 
ward, the  first  whipper-in  riding  ahead  to  the  right,  the 
second  whipper-in  to  the  rear  and  left  of  the  pack,  or 
in  any  place  where  he  may  be  wanted  to  keep  a  lagging  or 
skulking  hound  in  his  place. 

All  round  is  gay, — men,  horses,  dogs, — 
And  in  each  smiling  countenance  appear 
Fresh-blooming  health  and  universal  joy. 

Following  the  hounds  rides  the  Master,  and  to  the  right 
and  left,  and  following  on  behind,  the  riders  by  twos  and 
fours.     Some  drop  back,  others  go  forward  to  say  a  word 


3i8     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

to  a  friend,  all  rising  and  falling,  falling  and  rising  in  their 
stirrups  to  the  trot-toe-trot,  trot-toe-trot,  of  their  well-man- 
nered steeds. 

One  pathetic  exception  is  our  friend  who  put  his  horse 
in  a  temper  as  he  was  mounting.  He  goes  waltzing  past 
the  crowd  with  his  horse  in  a  lather  less  than  a  hundred 
rods  from  the  meet.  Pulling  and  sawing,  tugging  and 
pulling  his  poor  horse  only  makes  a  bad  matter  worse  ;  and 
all  for  the  want  of  being  one  minute  calmer  in  mounting. 

More  comfortable  riders  take  this  opportunity  for  look- 
ing about  and  counting  up  the  riders — seventy-two  in  all, 
including  several  ladies  —  or  gossiping  a  bit  on  the  way. 

Who  is  that  driving  past  the  riders  with  her  horses  in  a 
gallop  ? 

"  Oh,  that  's  Mrs.  So-and-So.  She  knows  the  country, 
and  from  the  direction  the  hounds  are  taking  she  guesses 
the  covert  they  are  headed  for.  She  always  waits  until  the 
crowd  is  well  on  the  way,  then  rushes  past." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  lady  asked  the  Master  what 
covert  he  was  going  to  draw  first.  It  was  a  little  comedy 
which  did  not  escape  a  few  of  the  knowing  ones  at  the 
start. 

"  Well,  really,"  replied  the  Master,  in  his  politest  man- 
ner, "  you  had  better  ask  the  huntsman." 

Diverting  her  to  the  huntsman's  track  was  a  clever  trick 
indeed,  in  which  he  was  justified,  because  he  knew  the 
huntsman  could  cope  with  Mrs.  So-and-So  and  her  bab- 
bling tongue.  She  is  particularly  fond  of  being  the  first  to 
whisper  a  matter  to  her  intimates,  and  he  is  aware  that  by 
the  time  hounds  reach  the  covert  to  be  drawn,  if  she  car- 


Riding  to  Covert  319 

ries  her  point,  half  a  dozen  carriages  and  as  many  road- 
riders  will  have  surrounded  the  wood  in  the  best  possible 
positions,  as  they  think,  to  see  the  find  and  start,  and  will 
be  sure  to  make  the  fox  break  covert  before  hounds  reach 
there  or  can  station  themselves  in  a  position  to  head  him 
back. 

Mrs.  So-and-So,  not  being  able  herself  to  go  to  the 
huntsman,  asked  an  unsophisticated  gentleman,  eager  enough 
for  a  commission  from  the  fashionable  lady. 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Unsophisticated,"  she  called  to  him.  "  You 
are  just  the  man  I  'm  looking  for.  Would  you  mind 
doing  me  a  favour  ?  " 

"  Most  happy,  I  assure  you,"  answered  the  delighted 
gentleman.      "  Nothing  could  afford  me  —  " 

"  Just  go  out  and  say  to  the  huntsman,  Mrs.  So-and-So 
wishes  to  know  as  a  special  favour  —  as  a  special  favour, 
mind  —  what  covert  is  to  be  drawn  first.  There  's  a  good 
man.      Never  mind  your  hat." 

"  Delighted  to  obey  your  orders,  Madame,"  said  Mr.  U., 
with  an  impressive  bow.  Then,  later,  to  a  farmer  on  the 
edge  of  the  circle,  he  said  timidly,  afraid  to  go  in  among 
the  hounds,  "  I  should  like  to  speak  to  the  huntsman." 

"  Go  right  up  to  him,  stranger.  The  hounds  won't  hurt 
you,"  advised  the  farmer,  knowing  well  what  would 
happen. 

The  messenger  ventured  in,  but  no  sooner  had  he  entered 
an  opening  than  the  hounds  surrounded  him.  First  one  and 
then  another  poked  a  cold  nose  against  his  hand,  which 
jerked  back  as  if  it  had  touched  a  red-hot  coal.  Other 
hounds,  seeing  a  man  throwing  up  his  hands,  thought  they 


3  20     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

were  all  to  be  rewarded  with  bread-crumbs,  as  the  custom 
is  at  the  kennels  when  visitors  call.  Poor  Mr.  Unsophisti- 
cated, unable  either  to  go  forward  or  go  back,  began  to 
dance  and  jump  and  gesticulate  like  one  shooing  a  flock  of 
chickens.  Everybody  was  soon  laughing  at  the  strange 
figure  he  cut.  Finally,  upon  the  whippers-in  coming  to  his 
rescue,  the  hounds  broke  away,  and  the  poor  fellow  man- 
aged to  work  his  way  out,  though  his  mission  was  yet 
unaccomplished.  He  now  made  bold  to  deliver  his  mes- 
sage to  the  huntsman  from  the  circle,  to  the  renewed 
amusement  of  everybody. 

"  Really,"  was  all  the  satisfaction  he  got  out  of  the 
huntsman,  who  had  been  caught  with  such  chaff  before, 
"  I  have  not  consulted  the  Master  about  it  yet  this  morning." 

Thereupon  the  unsuccessful  mercury  rushed  away  to  the 
house  amid  shouts  of  laughter  from  the  country  people, 
whose  enjoyment  of  the  city  fellow's  experience  was 
unconcealed.  The  huntsman's  "  yet  this  morning  "  saved 
his  reputation  for  the  truth  and  pleased  them  hugely.  It 
was  indeed  a  close  shave,  as  one  who  was  present  at  the 
consultation  of  war  will  recall. 

So  Mrs.  So-and-So,  foiled  again,  waits  until  she  sees  the 
direction  hounds  are  taking,  and  rushes  away  past  all  the 
riders,  her  horses  on  a  run.  Seeing  this,  the  Master  rides 
alongside  of  the  huntsman  and  says:  "Try  no  covert  where 
drivers  or  townspeople  are  assembled." 

This  may  upset  all  the  well-laid  plans  of  the  night 
before.  Fox-hunting,  as  we  have  shown,  is  a  game  of  plot 
and  counter-plot.  The  huntsman,  a  passed  master  in  his  art, 
decides  on  a  ruse  that  sends  Mrs.  So-and-So,  and  a  dozen 


Riding  to  Covert  321 

others  who  follow  her  supposed  leadership,  to  the  Maple 
Grove  covert ;  then,  like  a  fox,  he  turns  short  back  to  the 
Benson  wood,  and  draws  the  covert  as  originally  planned. 
Master  and  huntsman  exchange  knowing  smiles  as  they 
meet  again. 

A  little  before  the  Benson  wood  is  reached,  the  hunts- 
man nods  to  the  first  whipper-in,  who  by  a  circuitous 
route  rushes  off  to  take  up  his  position  on  the  side  of  the 
covert  opposite  that  on  which  it  is  to  be  drawn.  His  duty 
there,  as  we  have  already  shown,  is  to  view  the  fox  away. 

At  this  point  we  can  easily  imagine  the  novice,  who  has 
doubtless  heard  a  deal  of  talk  among  riding  men  about 
taking  up  the  best  position  at  the  covert-side,  asking  where 
he  had  better  station  himself.  We  have  already  shown 
that  foxes  seek  their  food  at  night  and  sleep  during  the  day. 
They  usually  kennel  early  in  the  morning,  selecting  the 
south  or  sunny  exposure  of  the  covert.  But,  since  circum- 
stances alter  cases,  should  there  be  a  breeze  stirring  at  the 
time,  they  are  likely  to  lie  up  for  the  day  on  the  windward 
side,  especially  if  they  have  reason  to  suspect  danger  from 
that  direction.  Their  personal  comfort,  in  other  words, 
gives  way  to  personal  safety.  Again,  they  may  ignore  both 
wind  and  comfort,  and  kennel  on  the  side  of  the  covert 
which  is  toward  a  farm-house  where  a  dog  is  owned. 
Foxes  must  do  their  own  picket  duty,  and  seem  to  manage 
things  so  they  may  do  this  as  much  as  possible  while  they 
sleep,  relying  more  on  their  wits  and  cunning  to  get  them 
out  of  harm's  way,  when  they  are  warned  of  it,  than  on  seek- 
ing some  secure  and  secluded  spot  in  the  heart  of  a  forest. 
If  there  is  reason   to  believe  a  fox  is  to  be  found  on  the 


3  22     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

south  side  of  a  covert,  most  huntsmen  prefer  to  cast  the 
hounds  in  from  the  east  or  north  or  west,  and  hunt  up  to 
him,  giving  him  the  least  opportunity  to  dodge  or  hang 
about  before  taking  to  the  open.  All  this  is  a  matter  of 
woodcraft,  and  the  problem,  one  of  the  interesting  moves 
of  the  game,  must  be  studied  out  by  each  rider  for  himself. 

In  approaching  our  covert  to-day  we  notice  that  we  do 
so  from  the  east,  and  that  the  wind  is  south.  We  are,  that 
is  to  say,  starting  with  the  general  rule  that  the  fox  will 
be  found  on  the  sunny  side  of  the  covert,  and  that  since  his 
nature  is  to  travel  up-wind  he  will  in  this  case  break  toward 
the  southward  if  the  hounds  are  in  the  east  to  help  him  decide. 
We  cannot  stop  now  to  discuss  the  numerous  other  compli- 
cations which  may  arise.  The  Master  may  prefer,  for  in- 
stance, on  account  of  the  condition  of  the  fields  to  the  south 
of  the  covert,  to  send  the  fox  the  other  way  out.  Assum- 
ing that  everything  is  favourable,  however,  to  the  fox's 
breaking  south,  our  best  station  to  get  away  with  a  good 
start  will  be  at  the  southeast  corner.  At  the  same  time 
we  must  be  careful  not  to  go  beyond  the  corner,  or  we 
may  head  the  fox  back  into  the  covert  again,  which  is  a 
thing  no  hunting  man  should  ever  be  guilty  of.  Novice 
had  better  not  make  too  great  an  advance  in  that  direction, 
for  the  Master,  who  is  himself  setting  the  example  of  hold- 
ing back,  has  an  eye  on  all  the  forward  riders,  and  a  step 
too  far  is  sure  to  bring  a  reprimand.  "  Hold  hard  there, 
Bayhorse  !  Hold  hard  !  Do  you  want  to  head  the  fox 
back  to  the  covert  ?" 

We  had  better  keep  back,  taking  a  position  a  very  little 
in  advance  of  the  Master  himself;  we  must  remember,  as  he 


Riding  to  Covert  323 

does,  that  foxes  do  not  always  kennel  on  the  south  side  or 
go  away  up-wind.  Somethnes,  indeed,  it  seems  as  if  they 
knew  the  general  theory  of  hunting  men  in  this  regard  and 
kennelled  for  the  day  in  a  position  to  upset  all  their  well-laid 
plans.  Position  is  really  something  that  concerns  the  hard 
riders  more  than  it  does  the  genuine  hunting  men.  When 
you  get  it  right  it  is  considered  a  great  stroke  of  luck,  and 
when,  as  is  often  the  case,  you  don't  it  is  very  hard 
indeed. 

The  question  of  right  position  is  an  easier  one  after  the 
fox  has  broken.  After  the  first  burst  of  speed,  lasting,  ac- 
cording to  the  condition  of  the  fox,  for  five  or  twenty-five 
or  even  forty  minutes,  there  is  sure  to  be  a  check,  and  then, 
as  we  have  shown,  he  turns  down-wind.  For  instance,  he 
goes  away  east  and  the  wind  is  south.  Then  he  is  almost 
certain  to  turn  to  the  north,  so  as  to  run  down-wind,  and 
if  you  wish  to  take  advantage  of  him,  your  best  position 
will  be  to  the  north  of  his  line.  For  my  own  part,  I  pre- 
fer to  take  no  position  in  advance  of  the  Master  at  the 
covert-side,  and  to  follow  the  hounds,  if  I  can,  regardless 
of  wind.  Should  they  get  out  of  sight  or  hearing  when 
going  east,  for  instance,  the  wind  being  south,  I  keep  to 
the  north  country,  so  as  to  have  a  ready  view  of  them  if 
they  make  a  turn  that  way  themselves.  For  a  hunting 
man  this  is  quite  enough  manoeuvring.  A  great  many 
times,  too,  riding  men  would  be  better  off  if  they  did  not 
undertake  to  anticipate  the  fox.  But  here  we  are  at  the 
covert-side. 


XXIX 

THE    GAME    ITSELF 


"  See,  where  they  spread 
And  range  around,  and  dash  the  glitt'ring  dew. 
If  some  stanch  hound,  with  his  authentic  voice. 
Avow  the  recent  trail,  the  jostling  tribe 
Attend  his  call,  then  with  one  mutual  cry 
The  welcome  news  confirm,  and  echoing  hills 
Repeat  the  pleasing  tale." 

SOMERVILLE 


XXIX 

THE    GAME    ITSELF 

BREAKING  COVERT FULL  CRY THE  CHECK THE  RIDERS 

THE  DEATH 

HE  huntsman,  without  a  moment's  delay, 
casts  the  hounds  into  the  covert  with  a  cheer. 
The  whipper-in  goes  over  the  fence  beside 
them,  and  the  huntsman  follows,  whereupon 
all  the  riders  halt  or  begin  to  move  to  the  south,  the  east, 
or  the  northeast  corner  of  the  covert,  according  to  their 
several  judgments  of  the  way  the  fox  is  likely  to  break,  or 
their  knowledge  of  the  country.  The  thong  of  the 
whipper-in  keeps  up  a  lively  cracking  to  prevent  hounds 
from  spreading  too  wide.  The  huntsman  is  cheering  on 
the  pack,  encouraging  it  to  draw. 

"  Edawick  !  Edawick  !  Edawick  !  Oust  him  !  Away 
with  him  !      Rouse  him  !      Rouse  him,  my  beauties  !  " 

How  the  hounds  fling  and  drive,  now  halting  in  a  cluster 
with  noses  down  and  sterns  waving,  now  scattering,  now 
on  again,  making  good  every  yard  of  the  way!  Your 
blood  cannot  help  but  tingle.  Cigars  and  cigarettes  are 
thrown  away.   Another  hasty  glance  at  curb-chain  and  throar- 

327 


328    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

latch,  a  feeling  of  saddle-girths.       Each  horse  has  caught 
the  spirit  and  is  as  eager  as  the  riders  for  the  challenge. 


See,  the  chestnut  veins  are  swelling ; 
In  her  neck  the  blood  is  welling  ! 

Of  what  peculiar  stuff  must  a  man  be  made  who  is  not 
stirred  at  such  sights  and  sounds  as  these  ?  It  must  be  , 
something  of  the  nature  of  putty.  Yet  there  sits  a  chap 
on  a  slab-sided,  three-cornered  rake  of  a  thoroughbred, 
lighting  another  cigarette  and  looking,  or  assuming  to  look, 
as  if  the  whole  proceedings  were  a  bore.  He  is  talking  to 
another  "  chappy,"  telling  him  the  latest  morsel  of  gossip 
from  the  club,  probably,  to  show  his  indifference  to  the 
game.  One  likes  to  believe  that  such  a  mien  generally  is 
assumed,  but  it  is  not  always.  There  are  men  who  merely 
act  this  role,  and  there  are  others  for  whom  the  part  of  a 
drone  is  natural.  The  vacant,  listless  stare  in  the  presence 
of  such  stirring  sights  and  sounds  as  these  makes  a  man 
look  the  idiot  truly,  creatures  in  whom  our  "  higher"  civ- 
ilisation has  bred  out  all  the  sporting  instinct  of  their 
fathers,  fellows  who  are  out  to  ride,  and  "  if  it  were  not 
for  the  d dogs  could  have  some  fun." 

All  the  hunting  types  are  here.  Look  at  that  man  on 
the  roan,  shamelessly  spurring  his  mount  to  make  him  jump 
and  rear  just  to  show  off;  and  the  "  swell  "  on  a  chestnut, 
riding  about  among  the  crowd  on  the  same  errand.  These 
are  the  peacocks  of  the  hunt.  Again,  that  alert,  nervous 
chap  on  the  black,  edging  his  way  to  the  southeast  corner, 
is  out  to  cut  down  the  field ;   the  horse  he  rides  is  a  new 


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The  Game  Itself  329 

one,  a  steeplechaser,  just  fast  enough  to  be  beaten  between 
the  flags ;  and  he  has  it  in  for  two  or  three  fellow-riders, 
no  doubt,  who  have  been  leading  the  field.  They  are  what 
the  Master  calls  "  threshing  scoundrels."  Blackhorse 
keeps  on,  and  as  he  moves  forward  others  follow  —  there 
are  always  plenty  to  follow  a  foolish  lead  —  till,  just  as  we 
expected,  out  comes  a  scolding  from  the  Master:  "  Hold 
hard  there,  Blackhorse  \  Hold  hard,  I  say !  I  beg  of 
you,  gentlemen,  give  the  fox  a  chance."  They  stop  where 
they  are.  Now  our  Master,  whom  we  saw  all  smiles  and 
good  cheer  at  the  meet,  is  getting  red  in  the  face.  He 
wishes  to  the  bottom  of  his  heart  the  fox  would  break 
north  and  leave  these  fellows  hopelessly  behind.  Between 
you  and  me,  dear  reader,  I  think  this  is  one  reason  why 
the  huntsman  does  what  he  can  to  make  foxes  break  in  the 
direction  unexpected  by  the  hunting-to-ride  men. 

A  third-rate  horse-dealer  who  has  timed  himself  just 
right  comes  dashing  up.  He  has  not  come  by  way  of  the 
lane  as  all  the  other  riders  have,  but  jumps  his  horse  into 
it,  and,  with  a  loud  shout  to  some  other  rider,  succeeds  in 
calling  every  one's  attention  to  his  arrival.  "What  do  you 
think  of  this  one?"  he  inquires,  loud  enough  for  all  to 
hear.      "  The  best  one  I  ever  owned  !  " 

Some  late-comers  and  farmers  join  the  group,  the  latter  on 
"green  uns  "  for  their  first  introduction  to  hounds.  They 
follow  for  a  few  miles  where  the  leaders  have  knocked  the 
top  rails  ofi^,  and  then  retire. 

Meantime  the  hounds  have  hunted  through  the  covert 
and  are  heard  returning.      Hark  !      A  challenge  ! 

No ;    it   is    only  a    new-entry  hound   giving    tongue    to 


3  30     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

a  rabbit  and  now  getting  a  sound  rating  for  his  mistake 
from  the  whipper-in.  He  goes  ki-yi-ing  back,  with  a 
stinger  from  the  whipper-in's  crop  that  raises  his  hair. 

The  hunters  shout ; 
The  clanging  horns  swell  their  sweet-winding  notes ; 
The  pack,  wide  op'ning,  load  the  trembling  air 
With  various  melody  ;  from  tree  to  tree 
The  propagated  cry  redoubling  bounds, 
And  winged  zephyrs  waft  the  floating  joy 
Thro'  all  the  regions  near. 

Listen !     A  whimper. 

"  Speak  to  it !  "  cries  the  huntsman,  as  he  sees  his 
favourite  feathering  wildly.      "  Speak  to  it,  Quickstep  !  " 

But  Quickstep  will  not  tell  a  lie,  no  matter  how  much 
the  huntsman  encourages  her.  Hearing  this  cheer  to 
Quickstep,  several  hounds  rush  to  her  side.  Trumpeter  among 
the  others;  but  even  that  great-nosed  hound  cannot  hit  it  otf. 
They  are  most  likely  on  the  "drag  "  of  the  fox,  that  is,  the 
line  he  took  when  he  entered  covert  early  in  the  morning 
on  his  way  to  kennel. 

Then,  cross-examining  with  curious  nose 

Each  likely  haunt  —  hark  !  on  the  drag  I  hear 

Their  doleful  notes,  preluding  to  the  cry. 

They  push,  they  drive,  while  from  his  kennel  there 

The  conscious  villain,  see,  he  sulks  along. 

Another  whimper.     "  Speak  to  it.  Bluebells !     Speak  to 
it !  "  cries  the  huntsman. 

"  Tally-ho,  tally-ho  !       Gone    away,   gone   away,    gone 


The  Game  Itself  331 

away ! "  shouts  the  first  whipper-in  from  the  west  side  of 
the  covert.  The  great  forest  to  the  north  repeats  it  in 
echo  —  "  gone  away,  gone  away —  away  !  " 

Hats  are  rammed  down  a  degree  tighter.  Horses,  like 
their  riders,  are  hardly  to  be  controlled.  They  rear  and 
break  away  like  race-horses  at  the  starting-post. 

"  Hold  hard,  I  say,  gentlemen  !  You  must  hold  hard  !  " 
bawls  the  Master.  "  Give  the  hounds  a  chance.  I  say, 
Blackhorse,  look  where  you  are  going.  Hounds  are  not 
running  yet."  The  Master  loses  his  temper,  and  a  lecture 
is  in  pickle  for  some  one.  Have  the  blessed  hounds  gone 
to  sleep,  we  wonder?  How  the  minutes  drag  between  the 
tally-ho  gone  away  and  the  find  ! 

Hark!  a  whimper  —  a  challenge  by  Trumpeter,  as  we 
know  by  the  deep  guttural  voice,  confirmed  by  Bluebells. 
Half  a  dozen  hounds  rush  to  their  sides.  The  huntsman, 
with  cap  in  hand,  leans  over  his  horse's  withers,  cheering 
the  hounds.  "On,  Bluebells  !  On,  good  bitch  !  "  A  little 
farther,  and  Quickstep,  who  has  rushed  ahead,  as  she 
always  does,  hits  off  the  line,  and,  with  one  grand  chorus 
that  fills  the  forest  with  its  melody,  the  whole  pack  goes 
streaming  away  like  a  flock  of  birds. 

How  low  they  stoop, 
And  seem  to  plough  the  ground  !     Then,  all  at  oncej 
With  greedy  nostrils,  snufF  the  fuming  steam 
That  glads  their  flutt'ring  hearts.     As  winds  let  loose 
From  the  dark  caverns  of  the  blust'ring  god. 
They  burst  away  and  sweep  the  dewy  lawn. 
The  welkin  rings  ;  men,  dogs,  hills,  rocks,  and  woods 
In  the  full  concert  join. 


33  2     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

The  chase  is  on.      "Now,  lads,  ride!" 

Is  n't  it  glorious,  this  first  burst  of  speed  on  a  horse  that 
is  just  a  little  above  himself?  No  pen  can  ever  hope  to 
describe  it.  It  is  as  if  the  gods  had  given  you  wings. 
Hear  the  clamorous  pack  leading  on,  your  horse  scarcely 
touching  the  turf  as  he  races  away,  eager  in  pursuit.  The 
first  few  fences  make  us  catch  our  breath,  for  our  mounts 
will  take  them  flying,  clearing  them  with  feet  instead  of 
inches  to  spare.  Yet  we  must  not,  even  in  this  moment  of 
exultation,  forget  our  horsemanship.  Allow  no  horse  to  take 
liberties  after  the  first  fence  or  two.  It  is  all  very  well  to 
let  him  rid  himself  of  the  superfluous  kinks  in  his  legs  and 
back  and  his  surcharge  of  energy,  rather  than  set  up  a  fight 
or  rufHe  his  temper,  but  on  no  account  must  he  be  per- 
mitted to  shoot  his  bolt. 

"  What,  a  check  so  soon  ? " 

Yes,  and  very  welcome.  Let  us  stop  where  we  are.  If 
it  be  a  short  turn  back  we  are  well  enough  where  we 
stand,  or  if  the  fox  has  already  turned  down-wind  we 
could  not  be  in  a  better  position.  In  that  case  the  hounds 
have  only  overshot  the  line  and  must  come  back  to  find 
it.  Let  us  dismount  after  the  hounds  have  been  per- 
mitted to  make  their  own  cast  and  have  failed.  We  must 
keep  an  eye  to  them,  however,  and  at  the  first  symptoms  of 
a  whimper  be  ready  to  mount. 

Now  the  huntsman,  seeing  that  the  hounds  do  not  find 
the  scent  again  by  their  own  cast,  lifts  them  smartly  up- 
wind, and,  failing  there,  wheels  them  around  down-wind  with 
a  wide  cast  back ;  and,  sure  enough,  the  leading  hounds 
begin  to  raise  their  hackles  and   wave  their  sterns.     The 


The  Game  Itself  333 

deep-tongued  Vagabond  hits  off  the  line,  raises  his  head,  and 
gives  a  great  shout.  A  dozen  hounds  rush  past  him,  and 
once  more  the  distant  woods  reecho  the  joyous  notes  of 
horn  and  hound.  Away  we  go  again.  Now  we  have  set- 
tled down  to  business.  There  must  be  no  more  nonsense 
now;  not  an  ounce  more  of  exertion  than  is  absolutely 
necessary  must  be  taken  from  our  horses.  Steady,  now,  to 
this  first  fence  !  Take  him  well  in  hand  from  now  on.  It 
is  a  question  not  so  much  of  fast  riding  as  of  horsemanship. 
That  's  it !  Slow  him  down  nearly  to  a  trot.  It  's  a  high 
fence,  and  he  no  longer  jumps  higher  than  is  necessary. 
Good  !  Well  over.  Novice.  Yet  not  so  with  every  one. 
There  is  a  great  smashing  of  top  rails,  and  four  riderless 
horses  go  racing  away  in  the  next  field.  Nobody  is  hurt, 
luckily.  One  fellow  has  his  silk  hat  knocked  into  an 
accordion  down  over  his  ears  and  eyes,  and  is  trying  with 
both  hands  to  extricate  himself  from  under  it.  Another  is 
chasing  along  across  the  field  afoot,  feeling  very  cheap 
indeed,  like  a  fellow  running  after  an  express-train.  An- 
other, whose  white  hunting-breeches  have  turned  green,  is 
staring  wildly  about  as  if  he  were  just  recovering  his  senses, 
not  knowing  whether  he  is  awake  or  dreaming.  Another 
has  crawled  up  on  the  fence,  and  sits  there,  digging  the  grass 
and  dirt  out  of  his  neck  and  ears,  while  he  trusts  to  some 
one  else  to  catch  his  horse  for  him. 

Four  horses  were  seen  in  a  terrible  plight ; 
Four  riders  were  all  more  or  less  in  a  fright. 

At    this  juncture  comes  a  check   again.     Now  Renard 
has  in  all  probability  turned,  after  a  rest,  and  is  headed  for 


3  34    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

the  point  he  first  planned  to  make  before  he  broke  covert. 
In  this  case  the  check  may  be  short,  and  we  had  better 
remain  mounted  until  we  see  how  the  hounds  act.  The 
huntsman  is  hardly  giving  them  time  to  make  their  own 
cast;  he  is  certainly  in  possession  of  some  knowledge  as 
to  Renard's  game.  Directly  back  he  lifts  them,  and  away 
they  go  again  over  some  good-scenting  grass-fields. 

The  chorus  swells;  less  various,  less  sweet 
The  thrilling  notes  when  in  those  very  groves 
The  feather'd  choristers  salute  the  spring. 
And  every  bush  in  concert  joins,  or  when 
The  master  hand  in  modulated  awe 
Bids  the  loud  organ  breathe,  and  all  the  pow'rs 
Of  music  in  one  instrument  combine, 
An  universal  minstrelsy. 

So  steady  your  horse  again,  and  keep  as  much  in  reserve 
as  you  possibly  can.  Only  keep  the  hounds  in  sight.  They 
are  the  only  pilot  —  unless  you  are  a  stranger  in  the  coun- 
try —  worth  looking  after.  What,  a  brook  ?  Now,  then, 
Novice,  not  too  fast !  Steady  to  within  the  last  few  strides, 
and  hold  him  well  in  hand  for  a  swerve  or  refusal.  Good 
enough  !  You  see,  the  energy  you  have  been  saving  in 
your  horse  stood  him  in  well,  and  he  cleared  it  with  ease. 

Check  again.  Splash !  Splash  !  Co-souze  !  —  go  half  a 
dozen  riders  into  the  brook.  Every  man  of  them  raced  at 
it  from  twenty  or  thirty  rods  back. 

There  were  eight  of  us  at  it,  and  seven  got  in. 

What  a  sight !  One  fellow  is  standing  on  the  landing-side, 
trying  to  pull  his  horse  up  by  the  bridle-reins.     Another 


The  Game  Itself  335 

rider  stands  dripping  on  the  bank,  while  his  horse  is  going 
back  the  way  he  came.  Another  is  off  his  horse  and  up  to 
his  shoulders,  wading  in  the  stream,  his  hat  floating  away  on 
the  current.  Still  another's  horse  braced  his  feet  and  bolted 
on  the  bank,  sending  his  rider  head  first  into  the  brook,  like 
a  boy  from  a  spring-board. 

In  the  meantime  hounds  have  hit  off  the  line  again,  and 
away  we  go  down-wind.  Renard  has  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion that,  plan  or  no  plan,  the  thing  for  him  to  do  is  to  save 
his  brush.  Now  he  will  go  down-wind  only  so  far  as  to 
keep  the  hounds  in  hearing.  The  end  is  nearing.  The 
older  hounds  are  driving  to  the  front.  Now  is  the  time  for 
one  to  ride.  Now  comes  the  trying  time,  for  when 
Renard  is  nearly  beaten  then  his  cunning  and  craft  are 
brightest. 

A  check?  No — yes!  All  but  three  hounds.  Not  a 
moment  is  to  be  lost.  Now  must  the  huntsman  ride  !  A 
sinking  fox  and  a  dying  scent  are  before  him.  He  urges 
forward,  leaving  the  whippers-in  to  come  on  with  the  pack. 
Check  again.  The  pack  overtake  the  huntsman.  Trump- 
eter—  where  is  Trumpeter?  Bless  that  hound!  He  has 
hit  off  the  line  with  a  short  turn  to  the  right.  There  goes 
our  fox,  trailing  his  brush  across  yonder  knoll.  Now,  lads, 
ride!  One  more  field!  "Hie!  Hie!  Hie!"  shouts 
every  one,  galloping  over  the  knoll  and  down  a  gradual 
slope.  The  fox  is  in  one  field,  the  hounds  in  the  next,  and 
the  riders  that  are  left  in  the  third.      "  Hie  !      Hie!      Hie  !  " 

Can  Renard  make  his  point,  which  seems  to  be  a  covert 
several  fields  farther  on  ?  On,  hounds  !  That  covert  con- 
tains an  open  earth.     Our  horses  can  no  longer  answer  to 


336    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

whip  or  spur.  Still  we  are  gaining.  Quickstep  is  not  a 
rod  behind  Renard's  brush.  "Hie!  Hie!  Hie!"  shouts 
every  rider,  in  one  mighty  effort  and  final  rally  to  hounds 
and  horse.  "  Whoop  !  whoop  !  "  as  the  prowling  chicken- 
thief  rolls  over  in  the  opening. 

The  huntsman  jumps  off  his  horse,  takes  the  fox  from 
the  hounds,  and  pockets  the  masks,  pads,  and  brush.  Then, 
with  a  tooting  of  his  horn,  he  calls  the  stray  hounds  and 
riders  in,  and  with  "  He  was  a  jolly  good  fellow  !  "  Renard's 
carcass  is  thrown  high  in  the  air,  to  light  in  the  centre  of 
the  snapping,  snarling  pack.  "  Break  him,  my  beauties, 
break  him  !  " 

Meantime  riders  have  dismounted.  Some  have  thrown 
themselves  full  length  on  the  grass.  Like  their  horses, 
they  are  done  to  a  turn.  For  you  and  me.  Novice,  let  us 
ease  our  saddle-girths  and  lead  our  mounts  to  a  knoll 
where  they  can  get  the  refreshing  air,  while  we  tell  them 
they  are  the  best  in  the  stable,  or  at  least  give  them  some 
worthy  compliment  on  their  endurance. 

A  lady  rider,  Miss  Frances,  whom  we  met  at  the 
meet,  is  presented  with  the  brush.  Mr.  Arthur,  among 
others,  rides  up  to  congratulate  her,  and  the  two  ride  off 
together.  The  mask  goes  to  a  visiting  gentleman  from 
Boston.  Novice  receives  a  pad.  His  friends  surround 
him  and  "blood"  his  face  with  it  in  due  and  ancient  form. 

And  now  we  trot  toward  home  in  the  wake  of  the 
hounds,  tired,  but  as  happy  as  we  are  tired  —  all  except  the 
jealous  riders  who  have  been  cut  out  by  Blackhorse, 
The  steeplechaser  lately  imported  on  the  quiet  from  Canada 
has  done  the  job.     Blackhorse,  to  be  sure,  is  very  fond  of 


3 
J3 


a; 


♦^ 


The  Game  Itself  337 

himself,  but  the  four  or  five  others  whom  he  left  behind 
are  wretched.  So  much  to  heart  has  one  of  them  taken 
his  defeat  that  he  declares  "  if  he  carn't  buy  something  to 
beat  Blackhorse  he  will  never  come  hunting  again."  On 
the  way  home  there  is  little  to  talk  about ;  only  the  horse- 
dealer  seems  able  to  keep  his  tongue  going.  Home  at 
last,  our  horse  has  a  pail  of  warm  oatmeal  gruel,  which  we 
give  him  with  our  own  hands.  We  see  him  done  up  for 
the  night  to  our  liking  before  we  hasten  in  to  dress  for  the 
dinner  the  Master  is  giving  at  the  club  in  honour  of  the 
huntsman,  whose  birthday  it  is,  and  some  other  visiting 
knights  of  the  pigskin.  We  must  not  miss  it,  for  it  is  sure 
to  hold  something  good  in  store. 


XXX 
THE    HUNT    DINNER 


■'  Whatever  our  fate,  may  every  one  say 

There  is  nothing  like  hunting  on  a  good  scenting  day." 

TO    FOX-HUNTING 


XXX 
THE    HUNT    DINNER 

THE    huntsman's    TOAST "  TO    FOX-HUNTING    IN    GENERAL*' 

THE    DOCTOR    TELLS    A    STORY 

lUST  a  few  congenial  spirits,"  says  our 
Master,  on  the  way  home  from  covert ; 
"  no    formaHty." 

Hunting  men  at  dinner,  like  hounds  when 
the  pace  is  fastest,  give  little  or  no  tongue.  But  by  the 
time  cigars  and  cigarettes  are  passed  they  become  such  a 
set  of  babblers  as  would  "  draft  "  the  lot  of  them  without 
more  ado.  Over  and  over  again  they  discuss  the  run  of 
the  day,  straight,  crossways,  and  then  "catacorner,"  as  the 
farmers  say  they  cultivate  their  corn.  Like  the  corn,  that 
grows  taller  and  broader  for  each  cultivation,  so  grow  the 
fences  higher  and  the  brook  wider  at  least  a  foot  at  every 
telling.  The  brook  is  no  longer  a  creek,  but  a  canal,  to 
those  who  have  tasted  it,  a  river  to  those  who  forded  it. 
Each  hunter's  vices  have  become  trivial  faults,  his  faults 
mere  eccentricities  which  only  amuse  and  delight.  His 
mistakes  we  gladly  take  upon  ourselves,  where,  in  all  prob- 
ability, they  belong.  So  the  babblers  babble  on  till  finally 
there  is  a  stir  at  the  Master's  end  of  the  table. 

341 


342    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

"Gentlemen!"  says  the  Master,  rising,  "gentlemen, 
this  is  our  huntsman's  birthday.  I  suppose  he  has  for- 
gotten the  fact  entirely.  I  have  asked  you  to  come  this 
evening  to  remind  him  of  it." 

Then,  after  some  complimentary  remarks  on  our  hunts- 
man's skill,  his  health  is  drunk  to  the  tune  of  "  He  's  a 
jolly  good  fellow  !  " 


Here  's  to  our  huntsman,  so  cheery  and  keen  ! 
To  all  of  his  breed,  whether  scarlet  or  green  ! 
To  the  hounds!     And  may  never  their  progeny  fail 
To  go  like  their  sires  of  to-day  in  the  vale. 

Our  huntsman,  looking  as  shy  as  a  new-entry  puppy, 
stands  up,  and,  after  a  few  words  of  thanks  to  the  Master 
and  of  general  compliment  to  the  hunt,  he  proposes  the 
following  toast: 

TO    FOX-HUNTING    IN    GENERAL 

May  we  find  a  good  horse  who  is  fond  of  the  play  ; 

May  our  foxes  be  straight-necked  and  show  hounds  the  way  ; 

May  every  one  of  us  hear  the  glad  gone  away 

As  he  stands  near  the  covert  on  the  best  hunting  day! 

May  the  fences  never  stop  us,  nor  the  brooks  cause  dismay ; 

May  our  hounds  never  weary  or  their  noses  delay; 

May  hound  music  never  cease  through  eternity  to  roll, 

Cheering  on  every  heart  that  is  tuned  to  its  toll. 

Whatever  our  fate,  may  every  one  say 

There  is  nothing  like  hunting  on  a  good  scenting  day! 


The  Hunt  Dinner  343 

At  the  end  of  this  poem  the  Master  rises  again.  "Gen- 
tlemen," he  says,  "  we  have  with  us  to-night  our  old  friend 
the  Doctor,  who  takes  his  hunting  in  a  carriage,  but,  for  all 
that,  usually  sees  as  much  of  the  game  or  more  than  the 
riders  themselves. 

To  the  poor  he  advice  gives  away  ; 
For  the  rich  he  prescribes  and  takes  pay. 
But  to  each  one  he  's  said, 
'  You  will  surely  be  dead 
If  you  don't  go  a-hunting  to-day  ! ' 

We  saw  him  out  to-day  with  a  new  entry  whom  he  was 
introducing  to  hounds." 

The  Doctor  is  a  very  popular  attache  of  our  hunt,  as  the 
reader  may  have  surmised  who  followed  him  through  the 
chapter  on  "  Driving  to  Hounds."  It  is  therefore  amid  a 
great  tumult  of  applause  and  clinking  of  glasses  that  he 
stands  up  to  reply.  His  full  rounded  form  and  face  are  so 
full  of  good  humour  that  one  of  his  friends  declares  the 
sight  of  him  does  his  patients  more  good  than  all  the  pills 
and  herbs  of  his  medicinal  stores. 

He  pauses  a  moment  for  the  applause  to  subside,  then 
drops  his  head  to  survey  the  company  over  the  top  of  his 
eye-glasses,  while  the  crow's-feet  begin  to  pucker  at  the 
corners  of  his  eyes  and  his  mouth  begins  to  draw.  His 
friends  break  out  again  in  anticipated  relish  of  what  they 
feel  sure  is  to  come.  After  a  few  complimentary  remarks 
befitting  the  celebration,  and  a  sly  allusion  to  Mrs.  So-and- 
So's  drive  to  the  Maple  Grove  covert, —  the  occasion  of 
another  wild  demonstration  from  the  members  and  blushes 


344    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

of  the  deepest  dye  on  the  face  of  the  huntsman, —  the 
Doctor  begins  an  account  of  what  happened  that  day  to 
the  person  whom  the  Master  was  pleased  to  call  his  "  new 
entry": 

"  My  friend,  Mr.  Bankclerk,  whom  most  of  you  met  or 
ran  against  to-day,  was,  as  the  Master  has  said,  out  to-day  for 
the  first  time  to  hounds.  I  had  prescribed  hunting  for  him, 
as  I  do  in  most  cases  ["  Hear,  hear !  "],  especially  for 
insomnia  and  nervous  prostration.  It  has  been  rather  hard 
medicine  for  young  Bankclerk,  but  if  he  perseveres  it  will 
cure  him  ;  that  is,  providing,  of  course,  it  does  not  kill  him. 

"  It  was  only  yesterday  morning  that  we  were  discussing 
the  matter  in  my  office  when  our  liveryman  dropped  in  to 
collect  his  bill.  Without  mentioning  names,  I  may  say,  to 
distinguish  him  from  the  other  liverymen  of  our  town, 
that  he  occasionally  rides  to  hounds.  I  have  never  seen 
him  off  a  highway  or  out  of  a  lane,  myself,  if  there  was  a 
fence  between  it  and  him.  He  generally  has  a  horse  or 
two  to  sell  or  trade  —  he  is  never  at  all  particular  which, 
though  of  the  two  he  prefers  a  trade;  and  to  swop  horses 
with  a  gypsy  is  his  special  delight.  You  all  know  whom  I 
mean.  He  wears  a  waistcoat  of  a  horse-blanket  pattern,  a 
leather  watch-guard,  a  horse's  head  for  a  scarf-pin,  and  cuff- 
buttons  to  match.  He  wears  boots  and  riding-breeches 
seven  days  in  the  week,  and  is  without  exception  the  horsiest 
man  in  the  county.  Indeed,  he  looks  like  a  horse  and 
smells  like  a  horse-stable. 

"  *  Well,  Doctor,'  began  our  liveryman,  striking  his 
favourite  attitude — his  legs  spread,  his  back  to  the  wall, 
and  his  thumbs  in  the  arm-holes  of  his  vest,  the  better  to 


The  Hunt  Dinner  345 

display  the  same,  'you  say  you  were  not  out  last  Thursday. 
You  missed  a  sight.  I  was  on  Rory  O'More  ;  and  what  a 
clipper  he  is,  to  be  sure  !  Not  a  better  hunter  ever  looked 
through  a  bridle.  Well,  sir,  Rory  and  I  left  the  whole 
field  as  if  they  were  standing.  The  first  I  knew,  I  was 
alone  with  the  hounds.  The  huntsman  was  shouting  at 
me  from  several  fields  behind  ;  but  I  had  no  time  to  bother 
with  him  or  the  Master  or  the  rest  of  them  chappies  trail- 
ing on  after.  I  was  doing  my  darnedest  to  ease  up  a  bit, 
like  any  other  good  Christian,  but,  my  sakes  !  don't  you 
make  a  mistake  ;  when  hounds  run,  Rory  O'More  is  going 
with  them.  A  fence  stood  up  in  front  of  us.  Gee  whiz  ! 
but  it  was  a  regular  church.  Yet  Rory  would  have  it,  and, 
as  I  live,  he  cleared  it  without  a  tick  ;  six  foot  three  and 
three  quarter  inches,  by  actual  measure.  I  see  we  were  in 
for  a  real  buster,  and,  oh.  Lord  !  another  fence  with  a  drop 
of  ten  feet  on  the  landing-side.  I  roasted  Rory  one  with 
my  crop,  and  darn  my  eyes  if  he  did  n't  take  it  in  his 
stride.  Well,  that  fence  stopped  the  field,  and  when  I  had 
gone  on  and  killed  our  fox,  and  done  the  obsequies  in  the  best 
of  style,  who  should  come  riding  up  but  the  Master  and 
huntsman.  The  way  they  stared  at  me,  you  would  have 
thought  they  had  seen  a  ghost.  What  a  wonder  that  Rory 
O'More  is  !  I  say.  Doctor,  you  don't  know  of  any  one  that 
wants  to  buy  the  best  hunter  in  the  United  States  cheap  as 
bullock  beef,  do  you  .? ' 

"Well,"  continued  the  Doctor,  "  I  saw  there  was  going 
to  be  no  end  of  it,  and  as  our  liveryman  had  forgotten  to 
say  what  he  came  after,  I  said  I  must  go.  Imagine  my 
surprise  when  I  met  Bankclerk,  that  evening,  to  learn  that 


346    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

he  had  bought  Rory  O'More  and  was  going  to  come  out 
to-day  for  the  first  time.  '  Well,'  said  I  to  my  wife  this 
morning,  *  my  patients  must  die  or  get  well  as  best  they 
can  to-day  without  me.  I  'm  going  to  see  the  fun.'  So 
I  hung  the  slate  on  the  door  and  started.  Bankclerk  sent 
his  horse  on  by  a  groom,  and  rode  over  with  me.  'Was  n't 
it  a  fortunate  occurrence  that  I  happened  to  secure  Rory 
O'More?'  said  he.  '  I  am  going  to  rename  him  Romeo, 
after  one  of  Shakespeare's  characters;  or  would  you  call  him 
something  else  ?  I  lay  awake  half  the  night  thinking  up  a 
name.'  '  Perhaps  one  will  suggest  itself  somehow  before 
the  day  is  over,'  I  replied;  and  so  it  did.  *Is  he  sound.?' 
I  asked. 

"*  Sound  !  Why,  the  dealer  said  he  had  n't  a  pimple  on 
him.' 

"'  And  his  wind  ?' 

"'  Well,  I  did  say  I  thought  he  breathed  rather  hard,  but 
the  dealer  seemed  very  honest  about  it ;  he  said  that 
showed  the  strength  of  his  lungs.' 

"•  What  did  he  say  about  his  fencing  ?' 

"  '  Well,  you  heard  yourself  what  he  said  about  how  he 
could  jump.  "Jump  !  He  will  jump  anything,"  said  he, 
"that  I  would  ever  ask  him  to."  Of  course  I  don't  expect,' 
added  Bankclerk,  'that  I  shall  take  any  such  jumps  as  the 
dealer  did  until  I  am  a  little  more  accustomed  to  riding. 
However,  you  can  understand  I  did  n't  want  a  green  horse 
to  begin  with,  and  I  hope  to  learn  some  things  from  Rory. 
The   dealer  said   I   surely  would,  as  the  horse  knew  it  all.' 

"'  How  did  the  dealer  say  he  happened  to  be  able  to  sell 
such  a  remarkable  horse  so  cheap  ? '  I  inquired. 


The  Hunt  Dinner  347 

"'He  was  owned  by  a  gentleman  who  was  going 
abroad.  Sold  for  no  fault  of  his  own.'  This  I  knew  to  be 
quite  true,  as  the  liveryman  had  taken  the  horse  in  a 
trade  from  a  gypsy.  'Gentleman  going  abroad' — that  point 
at  least  was  not  to  be  disputed. 

"  '  Sold  for  no  fault  of  his  own.' 

'"  Whose  own?'  I  asked.  '  The  horse's  or  the  former 
owner's  ? '  But  this  seemed  to  make  my  good  friend  huffy, 
and  I  desisted. 

"Well,  I  had  to  laugh  to  see  Bankclerk  admiring  himself 
in   the  shop-windows  as  you  rode  through  town   to  covert. 

"  'Why  don't  you  carry  a  looking-glass  in  front  of  you?' 
shouted  a  boot-black  at  him  as  he  passed.  '  It  would  save 
the  trouble  of  turning  your  head.' 

"  Before  we  reached  the  covert,  Bankclerk  was  quilting 
away  at  his  nag  to  make  him  keep  up. 

"'Not  much  on  the  trot,'  I  suggested,  'is  he?  Give 
him  the  spurs.'  This  Bankclerk  did,  but  Rory  simply 
switched  his  tail  and  plodded  on. 

"  '  Come  up,  my  beauty,'  said  Bankclerk,  trying  to  get 
his  old  stager  into  a  canter ;  for  I  could  see  my  friend's 
back  teeth  were  being  loosened  from  the  jolting  of  the  old 
fellow's  trot. 

"  '  Come  up,  my  beauty  !  Come  along,  my  pet ! '  he  cried, 
pushing  on  the  lines  and  then  pulling  back  as  a  signal  for 
Rory  to  go  ahead.  And  then,  losing  patience,  he  drove  both 
spurs  home  with  '  Get  out  of  this,  you  lumbering  idiot  I ' 
Thus  addressed,  Rory  O'More  broke  into  a  bone-setting 
canter.  The  ring  of  his  feet  on  the  stone  pavement  could 
be  heard  for  a  mile. 


34^     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

"Arriving  at  covert,  I  lost  sight  of  my  friend ;  but  seeing 
the  way  hounds  were  running,  I  drove  on.  The  next  thing 
I  saw  of  him  he  was  about  to  jump  a  fence  not  over  three 
feet  high.  He  was  leading  the  field,  to  be  sure.  Rory 
O'More  got  both  fore  feet  over,  and  there  he  stuck.  Forty 
riders  behind  were  waiting  their  turn  to  go  through  the 
only  gap. 

"  *  Have  you  a  lease  of  the  place  for  a  term  of  years,  or 
only  for  the  day?'  asked  some  one. 

"  '  Build  a  fire  under  him,'  cried  another. 

" '  Pour  water  in  his  ears,'  etc.,  until  finally  Rory 
O'More,  having  secured  his  second  wind  while  resting  on 
the  fence,  answered  to  my  friend's  quilting  and  went  away 
with  surprising  speed. 

"  Later  in  the  afternoon,  whom  should  I  see  but  Bankclerk 
come  walking  along  toward  the  road.  I  waited  for  him. 
He  was  the  picture  of  woe.  His  hat  was  knocked  in  so 
he  looked  like  a  Bowery  tough  ;  his  new  hunting-breeches 
were  green  as  grass  could  make  them  on  one  knee,  and 
torn  to  shreds  on  the  other  ;  his  hunting-coat  was  a  mix- 
ture of  grass-  and  fallow-stains;  and  altogether  he  was  the 
most  forlorn-looking  object  I  ever  beheld. 

"  *  Where  is  your  horse  ?  What  has  become  of  Romeo  ?  * 
I  inquired. 

"  '  Gone  to  the  devil,  I  hope,'  said  Bankclerk. 

"  *  And  your  hunting-crop  ? '  I  asked. 

"  My  friend,  now  that  he  was  reminded  of  it,  just  missed 
it.  He  looked  first  at  one  hand,  then  at  the  other ;  then 
he  felt  on  the  outside  of  his  pockets. 

"  '  Your  hunting-crop,'  I  said.     '  Have  you  lost  it  ? ' 


The  Hunt  Dinner  349 

"  '  The  Lord  only  knows,'  was  the  melancholy  answer. 

"  *  Are  n't  you  going  to  look  for  your  horse? '  I  asked 
next,  but  still  with  no  answer. 

"  Ignoring  the  apparent  absence  of  my  patient's  mind,  I 
hastened  to  inquire  if  he  had  had  an  enjoyable  day's  sport. 
*  You  certainly  bear  evidence,'  said  I,  *  of  having  had  a 
glorious  day.' 

"  *  I  never  met  such  a  beastly  lot  of  blackguards  in  all 
my  life.' 

"  *  Come,  get  into  my  waggon  and  tell  me  all  about  it,'  I 
said  soothingly. 

"  ♦  Well,  to  begin  with,'  said  my  friend,  '  the  Master 
swore  at  me  awfully.  I  was  n't  doing  anything,  either. 
He  rode  up  to  me  and  said,  "  Why  don't  you  hold  hard 
when  I  ask  you  ? "  "Well,  now,  really,"  said  I,  "  were  you 
talking  to  me  ?  My  name  is  Bankclerk."  And  he 
wheeled  his  horse  about  and  rode  away  saying  he  had  no 
time  to  make  me  a  set  of  brains.  I  thought  when  I  heard 
him  yelling  "  Hold  hard,  there,  Greyhorse,"  what  a  funny 
name  that  was  for  a  man.  It  seemed  to  make  every  one 
laugh  that  heard  it.  The  next  ruffian  to  ride  up  to  me 
with  another  bucket  of  abuse  was  the  huntsman.      "What 

in are  you  hollering  at  ?  "  said  he.      "  At  the  fox," 

said  I  ;  "just  saw  him  run  back  in  the  woods,  there.  I 
thought  you  would  be  glad  to  know  of  it,  and  I  hollered." 
With  that  he  ripped  out  a  torrent  of  abuse.  "  What  are 
you  doing  here,  anyway  ?  "  he  asked. 

«  *  "  My   name  is   Bankclerk,"   said    I.     "  Dr.    N 

advised  me  to  go  hunting  for  my  health."  "  He  should 
have  given  you  rough-on-rats,"  said  the  huntsman.    "  Bank- 


350    Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

clerk,  did  you  say  your  name  was  ? "  "  Yes,  sir,  from 
Rochester,"  said  I.  "  May  I  give  you  my  card  ?  "  "  Don't 
trouble  yourself,"  said  he.  "  You  take  my  advice,  young 
man  :  go  home  and  have  the  cashier  lock  you  in  a  safe  and 
give  him  a  dollar  to  lose  the  key."  Nice  way  to  treat  a 
stranger,  was  n't  it  ?  Well,  we  came  to  a  check,  as  you 
call  it,'  continued  my  friend,  getting  more  and  more  indig- 
nant at  the  recollection  of  the  treatment  he  had  received, 
'when  I  noticed  a  fellow  standing  apart  from  the  rest  of 
the  company,  looking  about  as  lonesome  as  I  was.  So  I 
rode  up  behind  him,  and  by  way  of  being  civil  I  was  about 
to  ask  him  if  it  was  customary  for  certain  members  of  the 
hunt  to  tie  red  ribbons  in  their  horses'  tails,  when  his  brute 
of  a  horse  let  fly  with  both  hind  legs  and  caught  me  on  the 
knee.  Look  how  he  tore  my  breeches.  Then  the  rider, 
too,  turned  on  me  and  began  to  swear,  "  Can't  you  see 
where  you  are  going  ? "  he  cried.' 

"  I  explained  to  my  friend  that  the  red  ribbon  in  a 
horse's  tail  was  a  sign  he  was  a  kicker. 

"  '  Well,'  said  Bankclerk,  *  why  did  n't  he  say  so  ?  Look 
here.  Doctor,'  he  went  on,  'you  advised  me  to  go  hunting 
for  my  health.  I  have  been  within  an  ace  of  being  killed 
at  least  half  a  dozen  times  in  the  last  two  hours.  Your 
treatment  is  too  heroic  for  me.' 

" '  Well,  what  next  ? '  I  inquired,  for  I  wanted  to  know 
how  it  happened  he  had  lost  his  horse. 

"  '  Let  me  see.  Oh,  yes ;  the  next  thing  that  happened, 
I  got  hung  up  on  the  fence,  as  you  saw,  and  heard  insulting 
remarks  from  the  field.  Then  a  fellow  I  was  following  — 
my  horse  goes  better,  I  find,  if  he  has  a  lead — well,  the 


The  Hunt  Dinner  351 

horse  ahead  of  me  refused,  and  of  course  I  bumped  into 
him,  and  the  rider  fell  off.  When  he  got  up  he  also  began 
to  abuse  me  like  a  pirate.  "  What  do  you  mean  by  riding 
in  my  pocket  ? "  he  roared.  "  How  did  I  know  your  old 
bloke  of  a  horse  was  going  to  refuse  ?  "  said  I. 

"  '  Then  I  thought  I  would  keep  away  from  every  one 
as  a  sure  guarantee  of  not  getting  into  any  more  rows,  for 
you  may  be  sure  I  had  experienced  quite  enough  of  it  by 
this  time  ;  so  I  went  through  a  gate,  and  was  crossing  a 
field  all  by  myself  when  I  heard  some  galoot  shouting, 
"  Ware  wheat,  ware  wheat !  "  and  I  saw  an  old  hayseed  of  a 
farmer  running  after  me.     This  was  a  little  too  much.      I 

pulled  up.     "  Now  see  here,"  said  I.     "  What  the do 

you  mean  by  shouting  at  me  like  this  ?    What  the are 

you  hollering  at,  you  fool  ?  Go  lock  yourself  in  the  barn 
and  hire  some  one  to  lose  the  key,"  said  I,  just  to  give  this 
impudent  fellow  the  same  treatment  every  one  had  been 
giving  me.  I  had  been  insulted  by  everybody,  from  Master 
to  stable-boys,  and  my  monkey  was  up,  I  can  assure  you. 
"  Ware  wheat !  "  shouted  the  hayseed.  "  Wear  it  yourself," 
I  replied. 

"  '  "  Get  off  the  wheat !  "  he  shouted.  This  jarred  me, 
for  I  was  in  a  ploughed  field  and  not  on  the  wheat  at  all. 
"  I  '11  not  go  until  I  get  ready,"  said  I.  Then  the  old  cuss 
came  for  me  with  a  pitchfork.  I  turned  my  horse  to  go 
out  of  the  field,  with  the  farmer  after  me,  clubbing  and 
prodding  my  horse  with  the  pitchfork.  The  going  was 
deep,  and  my  old  nag  had  to  take  it  at  every  jump.  In 
clearing  the  fence  into  the  woods  he  jumped  so  high 
that  I  was  caught  by  a  limb  and  knocked  off.     "  Good 


3  52     Cross  Country  with  Horse  and  Hound 

enough  for  you  !  "  said  the  farmer.  "  If  you  ever  step  foot 
on  my  land  again  I  '11  prosecute  you."  I  must  have  left  my 
crop  by  his  fence.' 

"  '  Go  and  look  for  it.' 

"  '  Not  much  !  And  where  the  deuce  that  old  plug  of  a 
horse  has  gone  to  I  don't  know,  and,  what  's  more,  I  don't 
care.  I  paid  twenty-five  dollars  down  on  the  brute.  I  '11 
forget  that,  and  telegraph  the  liveryman  his  horse  is  some- 
where in  the  woods  and  at  his  risk.' 

"  We  drove  along  a  little  farther,"  continued  the  Doc- 
tor, "  to  look  for  him.  '  Romeo,  Romeo  !  wherefore  art 
thou,  Romeo  ? '  Presently  we  came  upon  some  of  the  riders. 
A  boy  was  leading  Romeo  about,  waiting  for  some  one  to 
claim  him.  I  have  heard  since  I  came  here  to-night  that 
the  horse,  although  a  clumsy  old  brute,  is  very  clever  at  his 
fences,  and  that  my  friend  could  not  make  him  go  on 
because  he  was  riding  him  on  the  curb  instead  of  the 
snaffle.  But  he  will  make  a  sportsman  yet,"  said  the  Doc- 
tor, "  and  I  want  to  ask  you  all,  gentlemen,  as  a  special 
favour,  to  help  put  the  young  man  right.  You  never  can 
tell  by  the  looks  of  a  toad  how  far  he  can  jump." 


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